Pokemon: Subconscious
by Anayea Winter
Summary: *Warning* This story has violent and sexual themes *Warning* Following new trainer Naeya as she sets out with friends from the small non-trainer region of Xhova, experience the new region of Taffola with a different kind of league, and discovery of her own unexpected bonds with the new region she calls home. Naeya faces the question of if she will be a trainer or not.
1. Chapter 1

"It's so lame though!"

"B-but...it's the traditions here..."

An argument started between Yuuka and Tresk. Yuuka was the shy and nervous girl whose family was originally from the Johto region. Tresk was also from the Johto region, but far more excitable and obsessed with the idea of what was coming in the next few days. He wanted to take a Pokemon with him from the small island region the group's parents had brought them to, but none of them really made lasting friendships with the Pokemon of the region. The only way to be considered a trainer on the island, is if a partner Pokemon chooses to follow them. Only one Pokemon from the island can be a partner with the human trainer. Since none of them could bring along a Pokemon from the island at the end of the day, they would be heading off from the only place they knew with only their personal belongings to remind them of the place. Having Pokemon which only exist on the island would have been great as well.

Soon, the four trainers whose families were from different regions were called up to the stage to accept their diplomas signifying their graduation from a mostly normal school. A little of the schooling they had was teaching them about Pokemon, but mostly it was for being able to work professions specific to human civilization. It was boring to the boys of the foreign group.

One thing was for sure, they were disappointed they were getting such a late start to becoming trainers when they would be leaving in the next few days with their parents to a region which had recently become popular for having incredible trainers and unique challenges. It wasn't the usual scene like gyms and badges before challenging the elite four or tournament leagues in the regions their parents had come from. Instead, the challenge there was a different kind of tradition. Trainers would challenge a type speciality zone in the region, and then would have to with the same type as the zone. Defeating the zone with Pokemon of the same type would prove the trainer ready to challenge other trainers to become a temporary champion of the type in the region. It was something incredible, to have a champion for every type. Sometimes, champions would gather and battle each other to claim a temporary crown as the region leader. As far as they knew, it was every five years the region held the champion tournaments to decide the region's champion. The whole region was filled to the brim with trainers who dedicated their entire lives to becoming better and they were now widely acclaimed in every other region as the strongest. Their champions have yet to be defeated by the champion of another region. The region champion also had to be skilled in multiple different types so to be able to face the other champions for the frequent challenges.

The region had long been without a name, just a land with dedicated trainers. Now, with demand and popularity, the region has decided to change name with every champion, if the champion deemed to name the region. The current champion of the region was a very excitable person who was originally a champion of fairy type and electric type later. She renamed the region to Taffola. It was...unique at least.

At the end of the ceremony, the students mostly lingered around on the park and fields around the school, while the group of foreign families went to a park closer to their home. One thing even more disappointing than not having Pokemon to take from the region with them, was that not one of the parents went to the graduation ceremony. It wasn't a happy event, but boring and long drawn out. Not one of them were very happy with the graduation. It was mostly a thing for the traditional types of the region, but the group from the foreign families grew up in the region hearing of the intense and crazy stories of their parents journeying their home regions, fighting gym battles and eventually fighting the elite trainers when they collected a minimum of eight badges required to challenge the league.

One girl of the group was just as fascinated as the boys of the idea in becoming a trainer, and at one time she had made temporary friends with a Pokemon of the island. Unfortunately, that friendship lasted as long as it took for the Pokemon to save her. That Pokemon was the ghost sword Pokemon called Honedge. That experience was not only a good memory and the one which inspired her to become a trainer, but it also made her terrified of wild Pokemon. The Grubka bug and plant type Pokemon which ate smaller bugs was about to make her a meal when the Honedge separated it from its roots. That memory, of the terrifying massive mouth with a terrifying amount of sharp and lethal teeth. That memory made her terrified of going to wooded areas on the island without her parents. To the fields where wild Pokemon roamed.

When they arrived at the park nearby their homes, the group looked at each other and smiled.

"At least soon we'll be able to become normal trainers. I wonder if we're too old to get a gift Pokemon from a professor. Those are usually given to kids before they become teenagers. We're adults as of graduation. We might have to rely on our parents to help us catch our first..."

Tresk was blunt about it. He really wanted to be able to take care of himself and prove himself in the new region. Go out with a Pokeball and catch the first cool Pokemon he would see. For the girl who was saved by the Honedge, Naeya, she hoped she could bring the Honedge along with her, to start her journey together with the Pokemon who saved her.

"I'd really like to have my parents bring me to the fields here and find that Honedge..."

"That would be really cool!"

Tresk was optimistic about the idea of her bringing along the Honedge, but Naeya was never social enough with the rest of the group to tell them of the whole situation with the Grubka nearly eating her. She wasn't very social at all, but she wanted to be a little closer. At least to the friends she would make. Closer to her parents. Close to Pokemon she could grow close to.

"Ever got your Dad to teach you about that Pokemon's evolutions? I've heard they're really interesting."

That was the other boy of the group. His family was from Unova. His family had apparently done a lot of travelling before him being born, and they had nearly complete Pokedex. Juez was fond of filling a Pokedex of his own sometime in the future. Yuuka simply wanted to find some nice Pokemon and treat them like family. Although her father was a champion at one time in Johto's past, on relinquishing the position, her parents had become more interested in having a good relationship than focusing on their pasts as trainers.

"Well, let's go see why our parents ditched on the graduation ceremony. Tell them how boring this traditional graduation was."

For them, they were also making a joke about how they were in a way smarter than their parents because they couldn't rely on their parents to help them with school work. The only thing most trainers outside of the small island region the graduates were raised on knew about was how to battle and properly raise Pokemon for battles. Their parents didn't know much about maths and the depth of language. Only Juez' parents were well versed in geography and the lay of the world, and Naeya's parents were...well, they surprised the whole group with a fondness for history. Especially given that her father had an Aegislash, the apparent final evolution of Honedge. That Pokemon family was very tied in with history, especially the era of the great war. Before the war, that Pokemon family didn't exist. It meant that the Pokemon was born from conflict, but that only made Naeya's attachment to Honedge and her father's Aegislash that much more precious.

The group split up after confirming they would bring their parents to the park and all celebrate the graduation together. Naeya was particularly excited to learn more about Pokemon after the long and boring graduation ceremony. She hopped along toward her family's home, but when the building was in sight around the corner of another house which separated her home from the park of the residential quarter of the island, there were two tall adults in black robes walking away toward the port from the house. She wondered if those kind of people were on business with the parents and that was why they didn't make it to graduation.

After a shrug from seeing the robed mysterious people walk away, she continued on to the house, and she was a little disappointed that the guests hadn't closed the door. Another shrug, and she walked inside, removed her shoes and went to her room quickly to change out of the graduation robe into something more comfortable. Something bothered her while she was changing though. Her parents definitely would have heard her enter the house, and Aegislash had a habit of almost always being out of its Pokeball and watching over her when they were in the house together. It was impossible not to hear each other in the house with how thin the walls were, so she wondered why they weren't asking her about the graduation yet, why they hadn't given notice they knew she was home.

Just as she turned to head out of her room, she could smell the most unsettling scent she could imagine for the time. Even Aegislash didn't smell of iron so much, but she definitely smelled something like the smithy or the butcher through the rest of the house. When she went down the stairs to the large room where her parents sometimes battled their Pokemon, the source of the heavy smell which only made her more nauseous, she almost wanted to run back up to the washroom and put on a mask to tell them just how bad the smell was. Something in her mind told her to keep walking down the stairs though. The lights were on, which was a sign they were there, but the bottom steps of the stairs were always cloaked in shadow because of the layout of the building. She couldn't see the bottom two steps, and when her left foot reached the second last step and slipped on something wet, she reached out frantically and grabbed the railing. She steadied herself and pulled out her phone and activated the light of the itemfinder application. She instantly regretted shining light on what she saw, because it only showed her a prequel of what else waited in the basement. At the bottom of the stairs, blood and the tail of her mother's Meowstic were messily strewn.

Naeya covered her mouth, holding back a scream and the holding back the feeling that her body wanted to vomit. She finished traversing down the last steps and rounded the corner of the stairway into the large battle room of the basement only to see everyone she considered family in pieces all over the place. Blood was everywhere. She couldn't hold back from vomiting anymore. She cried and screamed and...the cloth of Aegislash's blade sash reached up weakly toward her the same way it did when she needed something to dry her hands. She reached out and gently grabbed hold, hoping that despite...despite how badly it was harmed, it would live through what happened.

When the vomit stopped and she was heaving short of breath, she was reminded of the black robed people leaving the house as she arrived who left the door open. _They_ did it. _They_ hurt her family. _They killed her entire family_.

It hurt to move, but when the life in Aegislash's sash went limp she charged up the stairs with all her strength only to find the rest of her friends at the door with tears streaming down their faces. Covered in blood. It must have been the same for their families.

 _Why?!_

That was the thought in her mind, but there was no way to know the answer. The only clue they had, was that it was only their parents since everyone else on the island showed up to the graduation ceremony. What did they all have in common? They temporarily retired from being trainers to raise the children until they were ready to become trainers themselves. It wouldn't be long before the children would be ready. In fact, the plan was to leave soon after graduation to the currently named Taffola region.

Naeya grabbed tight hold of Yuuka's hand and pulled her along toward the port before she was pulled back.

"Why are you stopping me?! We have to find out where the black robed people went! We have to stop them and have them punished for this!"

Naeya's strength returned to her. She let go of Yuuka's hand and ran off on her own to the port. While the others stood nearly motionless, filled with the despair of the losses they suffered, she ran to find out what she could. She knew it was dangerous, but there were always guard Metang on duty watching the port. They could protect her if those black robed men tried anything on her.

Just as she crossed the last side road onto the main pier of the port, she saw a large ship leaving. On the deck, those black robed people were looking on the island. Apparently the parents were their purpose for coming to the island. She ran over to the Metang which was just closing the gate for the ship which departed.

"Where is that ship heading?!"

Metang touched its claws to the terminal at its gate and human language came out.

"That departure was to the currently named Taffola region. Please attend your appearance."

She ignored the part about it mentioning her appearance. She turned around and ran back to the rest of her group of friends. When she got there, she was totally out of breath. However, she did get out words she intended to say.

"They left for Taffola. Let's clean up and get ready to leave for there on the night cruise."

"P-please stop this Naeya...! Going after them is way too reckless! They...they..."

The boys seemed to catch onto her intention, and theirs matched hers. Their eyes were filled with something unexpected. It wasn't the fear and pain anymore. It also wasn't the warning off Yuuka had in her expression. Their expressions were filled with anger. And thirst for vengeance. While Naeya wanted her family avenged, she more intended to have them punished by the right people. By authorities. By Pokemon the same as were killed by those people.

She turned and walked into her home, so that she could get ready to leave with the others. The people of the island would be happy for the outsiders to finally be gone. While it was despicable, their authorities didn't care about anything regarding the foreign students or parents. They wouldn't do anything about their parents.

After getting cleaned and changed, when she met with Yuuka again at the park, she had something to say.

"We should...bring our families with us. To...bury them. They won't have peace here."

Yuuka started crying again. Naeya grabbed her in a hug, and when Tresk and Juez returned to the park with their bags, she let go of Yuuka and turned her attention on them. She told them the same she told Yuuka. At first, they gave her a questioning look, but her expression told them she was serious, and they might have realized what kind of treatment their families would get. None of them could leave their families to be treated badly by the island locals.

The group worked together and had everything ready for the night cruise. When they boarded, Naeya felt as if someone was watching her. Nobody on the ship knew of a stowaway.


	2. Chapter 2

When the ship landed at shore, it was morning and the Metang at Taffola's main port town helped the travelling young adults unload their families carefully. It didn't take long for them to find officials who would help them bring their families to the port city's cemetery. It was a...solemn event. Everyone was devastated by what they were doing. Being named adults at the same time as losing their families. For the entire first day in the Taffola region, the group of friends didn't do a single thing related to becoming trainers. Juez had found a Pokemon egg unharmed in the battle room of his home and was taking care of it, but everyone was dedicating their time to the memory and honour of their families.

In the evening, Naeya left the inn room she shared with Yuuka who fell asleep from the exhaustion of crying all day, but not to get away from Yuuka. She wanted fresh air, and to let her mind be clear and figure out what the group should do next. As she made her way to the railing of the inn restaurant balcony, she watched the glistening shimmer of the water reflecting the moonlight. It was beautiful enough to for a moment take her breath away. When she felt the support of a nearly familiar feeling, like Aegislash' sash, she turned and saw a very familiar Pokemon. A Honedge.

It puzzled her for a moment, that a Honedge, a wild Pokemon at all would wander into a human populated area, and especially a Honedge which were quite rare and didn't go out of their way to be around people. While she stared at the Honedge, she felt more and more familiar, and eventually reached out and ran her fingers the way her father taught her along the sash. The eye at the hilt of Honedge reacted happily and the main body floated up a little. She knew it then, that the Honedge she was with, was the one which saved her before. It was strange. That the very same Pokemon which saved her life eight years before had followed her on a ship to a different region willingly and without showing itself before then.

"Thank you Honedge... For saving me all those years ago. Thank you again for tonight as well. I really...needed..."

The tears fell from her eyes again, and like Aegislash, Honedge lifted their sash and wiped the tears from her eyes. There was a concerned look in Honedge's eye, concern that it might have hurt her somehow. While humans didn't often truly understand a Pokemon, she knew exactly what Honedge was thinking.

"I'm alright Honedge. Just...sad. You might know, might not, but my Dad had an Aegislash who acted just as nice and caring as you are for me right now. It's...painful in a good way. Really, thank you so much."

Honedge's eye returned to a smile and floated beside her, wrapping it's sash over her shoulders, draping the end over her and snuggling its sheathed form against her. Even if the Pokedex entry described Honedge as the soul of a fallen soldier from the great war, and Honedge were normally fierce fighters, like her father's Aegislash, this Honedge had a much more gentle demeanour. Steel and ghost type. One of the stronger Pokemon native originally to the Kalos region her family was from. That kind of Pokemon seemed to have chosen her. Was it as a trainer? Or as a partner Pokemon? Either way, she was happy Honedge stayed with her and slept beside her bed that night.


	3. Chapter 3

"So...care to explain the Honedge which has been with you since before we woke up this morning?"

Tresk was a little upset that Naeya had a partner Pokemon before anyone else. Especially before they were even trainers yet.

"Honedge comforted me last night when I went out to get some air. It's obviously the same one which saved me back then, so I'm letting it come along with me until either it chooses me as a trainer, stays as a regular partner Pokemon or maybe it'll choose to do something different. It seems more already like Honedge just wants to be with me for now."

He was still upset about it, but Juez and Yuuka were happy for her. When Naeya told her how to pet Honedge, they were tickling and petting the sash and the three of them were having fun while Tresk just stayed upset.

"Anyways, whether I have a partner Pokemon now or not, we should head to the authorities and tell them about what happened back on the island. We should find out as much as we can about those people and whether we should chase after them. While we're at the city hall, we can register as trainers and find out if we can get gift Pokemon. Then we'll decide what we'll do from here..."

Yuuka had decided she wasn't going to involve herself further with the black robed people, but Naeya and the boys were determined to do their part in making right what happened to their families. After agreeing to go together to the city hall, the group left the restaurant of the inn where they had breakfast.

The streets were very busy, a lot of people and Pokemon going from place to place. People going to their jobs, Pokemon accompanying them or doing their own jobs. It was so much busier than the island they grew up on. It was almost...too much for Naeya and Yuuka. It didn't take long before they reached the area in front of the city hall where the people walking around weren't nearly as crowded and packed.

Naeya and Yuuka were trembling after being so closely packed with the other people who were walking the streets, that Juez was concerned they might be sick from something. Tresk didn't seem to care. Honedge reassured the girls with its sash and the group slowly continued on toward the large doors ahead of them for the city hall.

The building from the outside was imposing. Like a fortress. Well, a fortress with a more modern appearance than usual. It was made mostly of black metal and had dark tinted windows. The main doors were large but made of glass, something that didn't really seem smart somehow. The inside just beyond the main doors had smooth black metal floors, many different paths to go; elevators, staircases, and over a dozen service desks. It would have been very difficult to know where to go if there wasn't a building layout map in a terminal not far from the entrance.

When they approached, they noticed how easy the terminal was made to be understood. It was automatically set to show the main floor after a short time of inactivity from browsing the layout. The bottom floor they were on was shown to be the the customer service floor and trainer registry. The second floor was where contact to authorities was to be made. First, the group walked forward to the left most space at the end of the hall. That was where trainer registry was. The receptionist seemed busy, but there weren't any people ahead of them at the counter. When they got closer, they could hear the workings of a more creative mind than a working mind as she mumbled to herself the contents of what she was typing onto her computer at a fast and furious pace.

"We would like to-"

"Just a minute please, I want to finish this last part."

The group looked at each other, looked around at the many people at the other reception desks and were curious about a place with so few Pokemon. When the receptionist of the trainer registry called their attention back, Naeya listened particularly close while scanning over the appearance of the person on the other side of the counter. She was young. Maybe a few years younger than them. She had a very energetic type of personality which made her seem ready to bounce out of the chair rather than sit in it. Her hair was a rather short, dyed bright blue and was wild in style. Her eyes matched her hair, maybe had contacts to amplify the appearance of her eyes. She had a very frail frame, so it made her seem even younger.

"Sorry about that. If I didn't get it down I definitely wouldn't have been able to think of that paragraph for the story I'm working on. Trainer registration is usually really quiet. Most trainers are already registered or new kids starting out come later in the afternoon. You're from another region?"

Her voice was almost painfully high pitched when she was talking normally and not rushed like when she paused them before. Almost. Her voice did make their ears ring when she talked normally to them, and Honedge wasn't very appreciative of how high pitched her voice was, giving its own little screech by dragging its blade in its sheath a small bit.

"Your Honedge is really cute. Whose...?"

The others turned their eyes to Naeya and she sighed.

"Let's start with you then. Name please."

"Ah, I'm Naeya. Family region is Kalos, previous home region is Xhova Island. Honedge here has only been tagging along so far. None of us have started yet as trainers. Xhova has a no trainer policy after all..."

The receptionist nodded her head as she listened and typed everything into the computer.

"You have a really pretty name Naeya. We'll see about getting your Honedge a Pokeball. If you are seeking to also have an exclusive starter, the age limit on those gift Pokemon for trainers is fifteen. Your age please?"

She sighed and admitted that the whole group was seventeen. Tresk shoved her angrily when she said they were all seventeen. He gave the impression he was going to lie about his age. Issue with that, is that lying in a city hall was pointless, because Porygon monitored the sound waves from their home computers and would alert their receptionist of a lie. That was something Naeya had learned from her parents when they told her about city halls in Kalos. She sighed and stepped out of the way when she had a trainer card produced with a picture of herself surprisingly. The picture had her in her current outfit, current hairstyle and everything. Had the Porygon used its abilities to take a picture of her using the technology in the hall?

Yuuka and Tresk were registered, then Juez showed up at the counter, holding onto the egg found in his home before the group left the island. The receptionist on the other side of the counter seemed to know right away what kind of Pokemon was inside. She couldn't contain the excitement when she saw it.

"Oooh! Do you know what kind of egg that is?!"

Juez seemed to want to stop her from continuing on to say what it was. He wanted to be surprised. She continued despite his frantic expression to stop.

"That's a-"

There was a shock. The Porygon apparently sensed the mood on the other side of the counter and sent a thunder shock attack to her through the computer to stop her from spoiling the mood. Everyone in the group was startled when her words were suddenly stopped and she tumbled back away from the desk.

Naeya had an idea what was in the egg, knowing Juez' parent's Pokemon, but she wasn't going to spoil it for him. She didn't even want to think of it. Really, the pattern of the egg could easily give away what Pokemon was inside, but to people who were unsure, it was exciting to find out the result when the egg finally hatches. She had the feeling the egg would hatch soon anyway, so it would be all the more painful to be spoiled when the excitement of the egg hatching would be so soon. The Pokemon inside moved around quite often, so it was very close to coming out. It was something else to look forward to.

Her mind wandered to how much the group needed excitement and good news.

When the receptionist returned to the counter, she apologized with her embarrassment clear in her voice. Apparently the Porygon was talking to her a lot through the computer, because her eyes were drawn a lot to the screen. During her embarrassment, the most embarrassing point was that everyone from the rest of the main hall turned their attention to her and the group right away. They watched and waited until she sat down and finished producing Juez' trainer card.

"If you'd like, since today isn't busy I could escort your group for obtaining a Pokemon each. Are there any preferences in your first Pokemon?"

Naeya stepped back. She smiled at Honedge and the smile of its eye assured her it was happy.

"Don't step back please. I'm offering to the four of you. Even if you already have a Pokemon, I'm offering to help you get started as trainers. Is there a Pokemon you're interested in having as a partner Naeya?"

It seemed she was being prompted to be the first to answer which Pokemon she wanted to have next. When she thought about it, she really wanted to meet the cute and fun water type Horsea. She also knew that the Taffola region had a different final evolution from other regions. It made her a little nervous to mention Horsea as the one she wanted to meet. She only really wanted to meet one for the moment...but she had dreamed at one point of riding a Quendra in the future. It would be nice.

"I'm really good with Honedge for now if it will stay with me like this, but...I'd like to meet a Horsea."

When she said it, she was tickled with the sensation of embarrassment, and everyone saw that she was embarrassed...and excited to have the chance to meet Horsea.

"Great! Then I can show you a good place for them at the pier. Now...onto Juez. What kind of Pokemon would you like to meet?"

He stuttered, a little shaken by the opportunity they were being given. Eventually, as someone from a Unova, a world travelling family, he was able to make up his mind. He mentioned a Pokemon name that Naeya didn't recognize, and the receptionist seemed a little questioning on whether she could find that Pokemon nearby.

"Is...a Mudbray out of the question?"

"Hmm...Mudbray and Mudsdale are very rare in this region actually. If you're set on that, we can check at the ground area's ranch and ask if they've recently had eggs or Mudbray who aren't taken or trained already. It's interesting that you mention a Mudbray when your family's from Unova."

He got a little happy, and explained to her that his parents actually did travel through many regions. Alola was the region which had them decide on Xhova as the place to raise him. Because of the tropical environment, and much more peaceful and quiet population than Alola. While the residents of Alola were apparently more welcoming to outsiders, Xhova was praised as a great place for a long time to raise strong and great trainers.

"You have a very interesting story about you, I like that. Now for the Johto pair...let's go with the pattern of girl then boy then girl and finish with boy. Yuuka, what kind of Pokemon are you interested in?"

She answered the fastest so far.

"I'd like to meet an Eevee."

Everyone looked at her a little shocked. She was normally too nervous to say what she wanted or really speak up much at all, but the determination in her eyes showed that she was ready for whatever kind of challenge there might be in having an Eevee for her first Pokemon. Especially with all the different choices of evolution.

"Hmm...Eevee don't appear in the wild in this region. I'm sorry but that one won't work. The trainers that do have them don't trade them or give away eggs either...sorry, but is there another Pokemon that would work for you?"

Yuuka actually got upset about it. She turned away, wiped tears from her eyes and turned around with an expression of deep thought.

"I...really wanted to meet Eevee, but if no to Eevee...Teddiursa?"

The receptionist had a smile on her face after panicking at making Yuuka cry at not being able to provide a chance at an Eevee. It was obvious from her expression that she could get Yuuka a Teddiursa.

"That's another good choice. Ursaring is a little scary depending on the trainer, but Teddiursa is one of my favourites. The normal type zone is just outside of the city as well so we can go there right after finding Naeya's Horsea. Now, onto Tresk."

She turned to him and her expression nearly became scolding because of how he reacted to Naeya telling of all their ages, but she just couldn't hold a negative expression no matter how hard she tried.

"Absol."

That's all he said, and she sighed.

"Absol are actually banned on the island so unfortunately that's out of the question. They used to gather here a lot, and the cult of the region's legendary Pokemon would use the gathering of Absol to bring the legendary Pokemon out of hibernation. It's too dangerous to have in this region unless in small numbers, so there aren't any in the wild."

Naeya made mental note of the cult that was mentioned. She wondered if they were the people who attacked their families.

"Stupid...then Murkrow."

She sighed a relieved sigh. She really didn't like looking at him. There was also something Naeya saw in her expression that said it was a little scary he only mentioned dark type Pokemon. It would be fine if it were just the kind of type he wanted to challenge first, but even the rest of the group was uneasy about his sticking to dark types.

"Alright, so then the order of which we'll be grabbing you your Pokemon is Naeya's Horsea, Yuuka's Teddiursa, Juez' Mudbray and then Tresk's Murkrow. If there is a change you would like to make, then now would be the time while I make sure someone else can watch and inform me when people start coming to the counter again. By the way, I know all of your names now, but I should have introduced myself first. My name is Xharye. I'm also the head assistant to the region's better known professor. Maybe you'll get to meet him soon. I'll be right back."

She walked away from the counter to a door behind the desk area where there it seemed there might be other people working. Or maybe that was where the manager for the floor was. While she went back there, it seemed Juez was reconsidering his choice in Pokemon. Naeya brought up her concern for him.

"Are you okay Juez? Are you thinking of changing which Pokemon she'll help you find?"

He looked at her with a concerned expression.

"I...actually, I'm not sure if I should wait before this little one hatches before having another Pokemon. I've been interested a bit in Mudbray for a while, but my favourite...is actually Gardevoir, so that would mean looking for a female Ralts. Ralts are very difficult to find in the wild in almost every region they can be found, so I wasn't sure if I should even try asking. I'm sure you're looking for Horsea so you can have the region exclusive Quendra when it finishes evolving, so we're both looking for females of the Pokemon we're looking for. I...didn't want to make looking for our Pokemon take too long."

While he was talking, Xharye peeked her head back out of the room she had been in and her expression became more and more impish by the time he finished talking.

"So, female Ralts instead of Mudbray, and Naeya's Horsea will be female as well. Okay, I'll be right back. Just gonna grab my team from the storage centre."

Juez sighed and his face grew bright red from embarrassment. While Naeya was nearly as shy as Yuuka, she was good with reading emotions, so she always found it interesting paying attention to Juez. He had slightly longer hair for a boy, and he used to play with her and Yuuka and enjoyed it more than the sports Tresk and the other boys were interested in. He didn't like Tresk, but she had noticed him paying attention to a couple of the other boys on the island. Naeya didn't really know much about relationships and if what was on the island was normal or not for people because their parents called them strange, but she sometimes referred to Juez as a girl. The surprising thing was that he didn't mind. Didn't say anything. He did get a little flustered, sometimes would smile, but she just thought it was embarrassment.

"She's a little...well, she makes me nervous. Like the moment we're out looking for the Pokemon she'll spill all of our secrets."

Naeya thought for a second he was talking about her, but she giggled a little and Honedge rattled its blade in the sheath a little. Yuuka seemed confused and Tresk outright laughed.

"Secrets? Like what? We know everything about each other because of that island. There's no secrets I could think of that would be strange for other people to hear either. Unless it's something like Juez being weird."

Naeya was almost about to scold him for being rude, but that was when Xharye reappeared. She wore a different outfit. Instead of a business outfit, she was wearing a more relaxing frilled tank top mostly light blue with white frills and skirt which matched, as well as long stockings which were again light blue with little white sparkles. She had a sparkling silver coloured belt hanging around her very thin waist which had her Pokeballs on them. Most trainers used a variety of balls for their Pokemon, even their parents used more than the original Pokeballs. Every single one of hers was an original Pokeball. The red of the Pokeballs was a little interesting to see.

"As far as you new trainers today, the only one strange here is Tresk. Even the regular dark type trainers in this region keep other Pokemon on their teams so that they aren't surrounded in the bad omens the type brings. Juez is a little feminine, but I just figure a little gender neutral. Nothing wrong with something like that. Some people feel more feminine some days, and more masculine other days. Like some Pokemon change gender when they evolve. Although that is pretty different. Naeya seems the super smart and cautious type. Yuuka seems the anxious type. Tresk has only seemed a bully so far. Some bullies get their rights as trainers revoked. Better be careful Tresk. Especially since these people are your friends, and friends are earned here in Taffola."

She walked past the group, made sure they followed her and when they got outside, she picked a Pokeball from her belt and tapped the button twice to reveal a Togekiss. After refastening the ball to the belt, she grabbed another ball from her belt to reveal an Altaria.

"Well, get on. Flying around will make the journeying around for today much faster. If you hadn't noticed, my travel types I carry are fairy and flying types. I work with five types regularly. The other four Pokemon I have with me are a Quendra, Azumarill, ice-type Ninetails and Froslass. Ah right, I also have this..."

She tapped the gem on a bracelet she wore, and it glowed. The Altaria glowed and flapped its wings sending it a little into the air, barely stirring the air around the group with the cotton wings. When it landed back on the ground, the glow faded and Altaria...well, it mega-evolved. Mega evolution was more something meant for battle, but for a temporary growth spurt, Altaria's mega evolution was good for bringing people from place to place.

"Okay, us girls will hop on Altaria's back. Juez and Tresk will ride Togekiss. Be gentle when you get on. Togekiss especially doesn't like rough humans. Don't be surprised if she attacks you. One other person she gave a ride before took an aura sphere to the chest and was in treatment for a weak."

Not subtle at all. Naeya was almost sighing in relief that she wasn't riding on the Togekiss. While she knew she could be gentle, be really kind to these Pokemon, the concern that someone had taken an aura sphere from being rough before made her concerned that maybe it might not take much to get Togekiss angry.

She would find out quickly how much it would take to anger Togekiss, because Tresk started poking at it. Juez was trying to stop him, grabbing at his hands, but then he'd shove Juez every time his hands were grabbed. It took less than twenty seconds of that before Togekiss prepared an aura sphere directed toward Tresk. Tresk noticed this, grabbed Juez and pulled him in front before jumping out of the way. Juez and the egg he held onto were sent tumbling back with...terrifying force. Of course Togekiss was a powerful Pokemon, but that hard of a hit... Everyone was worried except Tresk. He stood up, brushed the dirt from his clothes and laughed when he saw how Juez was splayed out on the ground. No doubt, bones were broken, and he was unconscious.

"Metang patrol, apprehend new trainer Tresk for this violation of the Taffola force code. He will learn quickly what it means to break the rules of the region."

The two Metang which floated on the street nearby seemed to activate their agility move and captured Tresk. Their claws wrapped around his waist and arms, lifted him up and brought him away. Naeya was shocked, but not surprised. Tresk always acted bad enough that he should be punished for his actions, but when it clicked that he might be taken to prison over it...Naeya was reminded of the sight of Juez and the fact that the egg he was holding onto also tumbled away. She stopped worrying about Tresk as soon as she looked back at Juez and rushed over to him to see if he was okay. Yuuka hurried over to the egg. Thankfully the egg was fine. Xharye called the Togekiss over to Juez and had her pick Juez up.

"Bring Juez to the emergency centre quick for me please. As soon as they tell you they can take care of him, find us with Altaria's scent, alright?"

Togekiss purred a little, then gently flew away to a part of the city none of the group had been to yet. Yuuka held onto the egg, but she felt bad about holding onto the egg which belonged to Juez' family. She turned to Xharye and she knew right away.

"I'll have the administrator here watch the egg until we're done grabbing your new Pokemon. Once we're done, I'll bring you to the emergency centre where Togekiss just took Juez. For now, climb up on Altaria and I'll bring the egg to the administrator."

Yuuka nervously handed over the egg to Xharye and looked at Naeya to see if she was going to climb on the Altaria like they were told to. Instead, Naeya was petting Honedge's sash again with a sad look on her face. It made Yuuka worried, but the sad expression faded and grew kind. She was relieved seeing that Naeya could pull herself together over something like that. It was something so simple, so relaxing to see.

"She's really going to become a great trainer someday. Make sure you treasure your friendship with Naeya, Yuuka. Now, why aren't either of you on Altaria?"

Naeya turned and faced Xharye when she heard the question, and looked at Altaria.

"I know Altaria are strong, but their talons hurt against the ground, so with our weight on her, it would hurt even more. If there was a perch, then it might make it feel easier for me to get on her. Less time for her feeling the pain in her talons feels more kind to her, doesn't it?"

Naeya showed just how knowledgeable she was of Altaria. The difference between a regular Altaria and when it's mega evolved, is that mega Altaria has its legs outside of the cotton spore it usually flies on. Its legs and talons are usually protected by the cotton spore, so it would indeed be painful to stand on the ground while mega evolved instead of flying. It was actually insensitive of Xharye to leave her Altaria standing on the ground like that mega evolved.

"You're really very knowledgeable about Pokemon aren't you? I thought Xhova was a hick kind of community that didn't teach anything about Pokemon."

"My parents taught me a lot and often showed me their Pokedex. They were from Kalos, so they had the chance to meet a lot of different Pokemon. Mom...had an Altaria too..."

She grabbed hold of Honedge's sash again and started petting it again. Remembering another Pokemon she saw dead in that house, which shared room in the city cemetery with the rest of her family, her expression wouldn't return to the kind expression as she pet Honedge's sash. She dropped her hands from the sash when she realized it wasn't calming her down anymore.

"I'd feel better walking off this feeling. Let's walk together, please?"

The nearly pained expression of pleading she wore as she faced Xharye made Yuuka tear up a little.

"Well, that would be fine. We won't be away as long with Juez and Tresk no longer tagging along, so I'll also take you by the market place to get the both of you some Pokeballs. We'll also swing by a Pokecenter to make sure Honedge is in top shape in case a battle comes out of nowhere."

Naeya and Yuuka nodded their heads and followed when Xharye started leading the way. Of course she did call her Altaria back to its Pokeball before leading the way, it was just something that Naeya paid attention to though. She was letting her concern run through her.

The day would definitely be long, just the three girls gathering Naeya and Yuuka's first official Pokemon. Naeya had a strange feeling about Xharye. Like she might be more important than she was leading on. She didn't have electric types on her current team, but she sounded very similar to the current region champion. It made her wonder if Xharye knew the champion, since they did both use fairy types.


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright, now here we are at the market place. There are many street vendors who serve things from ice cream, to canned treats for your Pokemon, speciality Pokeballs and technical machines to teach your Pokemon moves. Of course there are many other things to look at as well. For now, let's go to the actual mart and get you some traditional old Pokeballs."

She pointed out the different stalls and what kinds of things each stall sold. Eventually, they arrived at the blue metal framed building she called the mart. It was still a large building like most of the buildings around them, but it technically was a city and it was more likely a tall department store with even more speciality items on different floors.

The inside of the mart was pretty typical. The only way that Naeya or Yuuka had seen the inside of a mart before was through the television or their phone applications showing video of other trainers' journeys. There was a lot of open space on the bottom floor of the first market, the walls covered in shelves with rows upon rows of different kind of medicines for Pokemon, regular tasteless snacks, water, the regular produced three types of capture balls and some decorations for Pokeballs. There was a service counter where they told information on the floors and rang through the items you would pick out from the shelves and purchase. It was very simple.

Xharye led Naeya and Yuuka over to the Pokeball section, grabbed a basket from beside the shelves and put twenty Pokeballs inside, walked over to the potion section in medicine and put ten in there. After that, she brought the items to the counter and paid for them. After that, she handed the items over to Naeya and Yuuka, while they put the items into their carrying bags. Before putting her last new Pokeball into her bag, Naeya tapped the button and it grew to full size. She turned to Honedge and gave it the expression she was asking if it would use the ball. Instead, it floated up to her, and slung its sash through her waist belt and hung like a regular sword, as if saying to wield it like a regular sword if she was going to carry it around. She giggled at how silly the expression of the eye was when it moved a little to look up at her.

"You goof. Okay, no Pokeball then. If it's comfortable there it's fine too. You're really light. Let's go get you checked at the Pokecenter next."

After a nod of the sash, she turned to Xharye and noticed how she was watching them. The expression of entertainment was there, but also a fondness that made her feel older than she had been acting so far. It made her feel mature, and more fitting as the trainer of the powerful Pokemon which sat in the Pokeballs hanging on her waist.

"Honedge is really fond of you. What kind of past do you have?"

She led them again. Out of the mart and onto the large market street again, further away from the city hall. Naeya was nervous about it, and still hadn't told the story to Yuuka, but it was mostly because she had been nervous about Tresk hearing about the story with Honedge. She started to tell of the experience in the forest outside of the town on Xhova.

"When I was nine, I went to the forest area thinking it would be fine. That I wouldn't be in danger. Because the Pokemon on the forest were usually very passive or avoided being around people. I didn't get in very deep before a wild Grubka grabbed my ankles with its roots and started pulling me toward it. Just before my feet reached the sharp teeth in its mouth, Honedge cut its roots to have me released and led me out of the forest before returning to the forest. I never really thought there was much of a connection with it before it showed up last night. It followed me all the way from Xhova, and seeing Honedge, when it hung it sash over my shoulder like Dad's Aegislash...well, I've never cried much before then."

Xharye and Yuuka looked at her with a tearful expression. It was more of a happy tearful expression than sad. It was happy that Honedge had followed her so far after one small experience together when she was young enough to start as a regular trainer.

It was convenient that they had just arrived at the Pokecenter just as everyone stopped for reacting to the end of the short explanation of what brought Naeya and Honedge together. She could have made a much more detailed explanation, but she wasn't good at talking much. She didn't like talking, and it made her nervous.

They made their way into the Pokecenter and had Honedge checked. It took all of a few seconds for the nurse on the other side of the main counter to realize a few things from the scanner across from the machine where Pokemon in their balls would be scanned and healed of immediate issues curable by medicines. The nurse nervously looked at the group in front of her, then her gaze swayed from Naeya to Yuuka and then back to Naeya as her expression seemed most concerned of Honedge.

"Your Honedge...well, not only does it have a very rare non-lethal disease called Pokerus, it also has a much more rare condition. Have you noticed the sheath for its blade? It has been marked, this means this Honedge cannot reside in a ball, nor does this kind of Honedge usually listen to trainers. This kind of Honedge are usually unfriendly and lethal against people. I'm glad it's friendly and all...but it won't be healed by any normal methods. Nor will it be harmed by normal methods. I suggest not having it battle, because this kind of Honedge...its attacks aren't meant for traditional Pokemon battles. They're meant to kill. To lethally harm and maim. Please, be careful with this Honedge."

Yuuka and Xharye stared at Honedge with horrified expressions as it floated up and over back to wrap its sash around Naeya's belt. Naeya was shocked, but she hadn't intended to battle with it anyway. She...felt like it was somehow related to the Aegislash she grew up knowing. It was like family to her, even though she really hadn't known it long. If she was forced to depend on Honedge, it would be in dangerous, life threatening situations.

Honedge didn't seem to acknowledge that it was dangerous and different from regular Pokemon. It was blissful at having Naeya with it.

"A-also. That Honedge. That family of Pokemon usually have gender. That Honedge doesn't. In case you would eventually try and breed it with another Pokemon."

Shortly after the nurse finished, the doors of the Pokecenter opened and Togekiss waddled over on her hind legs to meet up with Xharye.

"Thanks for the help Togekiss."

Xharye tapped the button on the ball while still on the belt and it pulled Togekiss in normally.

Togekiss returning despite Altaria not being out showed just how close she was to Xharye. It calmed everyone down. Also part of something natural about Togekiss' presence. Their down shed a calming powder to the area around them.

As soon as the girls were ready, they left the Pokecenter and walked the rest of the way to the pier, which wasn't far at all. Less than a minute separated the Pokecenter from the pier. After reaching the pier, Xharye then led them to a beach which was located just off the pier and she told Naeya and Yuuka when looking for a water type Pokemon, it was usually a good idea to join them in their environment instead of luring them out of it. She led them to a change room where she convinced them to wear...well, it was better that she didn't ask them to wear bikinis was the thought on Naeya's mind. While she wasn't particularly endowed, Yuuka was, and her anxiety about other people would likely suffer because of the attention her unhindered figure would draw.

The girls wore wetsuits over their regular swim suits which they kept in their travel bags they had with them, and they went to the water as if to go diving. Neither Naeya nor Yuuka had any experience with diving, so they hadn't been given the rest of the gear for diving, just the suits so that they were well covered. It was more of a safety thing in case more violent water Pokemon would approach them.

They walked in to the water to their waists before they noticed there were plenty of shore dwelling Pokemon swimming away, then cautiously making their way back to the girls as they stood in the water. There were a lot of smaller fish types such as Remoraid in the beach area, quick to grow friendly with the people of the city who were there to swim. There were a lot of Finneon who were all pecking softly against the legs of Naeya and Yuuka, a ticklish feeling. There were many more small Pokemon which swam close to them, but Naeya was a little disappointed that after five minutes looking through the schools of Pokemon swimming around them, not one Horsea was in sight.

Just as she took another step a little deeper, feeling as if stepping on a hard stone in the sand below her feet, she stepped off, and the in fact Starmie which shot up out of the water, ready to fire off a hydro pump was grabbed by the tongue of a different water Pokemon which arrived before Honedge could swing over from its switched resting position, sash hung over her shoulder so that it could stay out of the water.

The Pokemon with the tongue which grabbed around the centre of the Starmie was...one of the Kalos starter Pokemon, a Froakie. The Froakie was very strong for a baby of an evolution line. Using its tongue, Froakie threw Starmie like a frisbee far from the shore and let go. It made an expression that its tongue was sore, but after a little caring for it, it turned toward the girls, then focused its attention on Naeya, smiled, dove into the water, and when it got close in the water, hopped up to the shoulder Honedge wasn't hanging from. The Froakie called out in a happy tone as if it achieved something.

"You really have a way with wild Pokemon Naeya...I can understand the Starmie getting upset, but wild Pokemon rarely save people. Then they seem to warm right up to you. Now lets check out the Froakie there with my Pokedex..."

Xharye pulled her Pokedex from a small waterproof bag she brought with her attached to her belt with her team on it, and aimed it at Froakie.

"Oh, especially rare! Female Froakie are very small in number. If you look even closer, she has a cute swirl on her forehead which is strange as well. She also has the shiny type discolouration. She'll grow up to be one of the famed black skin Greninja. She has...near perfect stats as well. You know, I feel awkward leaving Honedge out of this little 'dex check, so let's see if it updated after the explanation at the Pokecenter..."

She turned and aimed the camera of the 'dex to Honedge, and it blinked a couple of times. When she hummed in curiosity, Naeya knew even when she was looking away that the Pokedex confirmed Honedge's state that was told to them at the Pokecenter.

Naeya wasn't worried about either of the Pokemon who were attracted to her being rare. She was just happy they were so friendly with her.

"Honedge...it's stats aren't coming up. It's almost as if this Honedge isn't really a Pokemon."

Xharye's way of talking about it and tone gave her a bad feeling, to which Froakie and Honedge grew a little angered. They calmed down when she pet Froakie on the head behind the eyes and Honedge's sash.

"We came here so that we could find Naeya a Horsea, but she already got a Froakie from her family's home region. Maybe we should just go to the normal type zone and get Yuuka her Teddiursa and call it today~"

Xharye teased at it, but her tone was obviously a jest at ignoring the original request.

"Horsea are usually a little deeper, so let's ask Quendra to bring a school over. What do you think of that idea?"

Immediately after she said it, Naeya nodded her head and Xharye tapped the button of a Pokeball she hadn't touched yet that day, calling out the beautiful Quendra to the water in front of them. Quendra shared the same water and dragon typing as Kingdra, however it was much more defensive, and had the ability to swap defence with special attacking prowess with a move. They had one set ability which made it impossible to miss attacks as well. Inaccurate moves such as zap cannon and hydro pump were made unmissable. Such power behind the Pokemon made it a lethal force in battle.

After a quick few words from Xharye, Quendra bowed its head lightly and swam out into the deeper water. After a short couple of minutes the group played with the shore fish Pokemon, Quendra returned with...enough Horsea to have other people panic and run from the water at the shore. There were a bunch of Seadra mixed with them as well.

"Now, let's look through them to find one friendly with you who's female. She brought a lot over, so this might take a little while. I'll call her back to her Pokeball really quick here so she's out of the way from the 'dex search."

It took a few minutes of checking with the 'dex and urging them back to the deeper water before one Horsea was found with an injury. She was especially young, and when Naeya picked her up and cradled her gently, Naeya, Honedge and Froakie were all convinced that the Horsea was the one she was meant to have as her first official Pokemon as a trainer.

"You have half an official team with this if we count Froakie and Honedge. I get the feeling Froakie and Honedge might not be the type to battle normally. Let's get Horsea taken care of, alright? We can also see if Froakie hurt herself when she threw the Starmie away. You definitely have the making of a great trainer in the future Naeya."

Naeya blushed. Xharye had such powerful Pokemon hanging on her belt of Pokeballs, but she was praising how good a trainer she imagined Naeya might become in the future.

When they returned to the Pokecenter and first had Horsea treated by the nurse, when Horsea saw Naeya pull out a Pokeball for her, she wore a happy expression in her eyes and touched her snout against the button of the Pokeball, claiming the Pokeball for her new home.

After seeing Horsea disappear into a Pokeball, Froakie grew a little upset, hopped onto the scanner Horsea had been scanned on by the nurse, and reached out as if to say she wanted to be in a Pokeball too. During the seconds Froakie was on the scanner, the nurse was able to notice something just as alarming as she had noticed before with Honedge. It was very similar to Honedge, after all. The swirl mark on its head was the sign it was different. It had the same normally violent nature which seemed to be different with Naeya present, was exceptionally strong...and couldn't be healed by the medicines of the Pokecenter. Eventually a little treated as if the same way as a human, Froakie had a slime like fluid put in her mouth to heal the damage done to her jaw and tongue from the strain of throwing Starmie. It would soften and fall out of her mouth when there was no longer any damage in the mouth. Naeya wasn't surprised anymore. Nor was she worried at all about Froakie or Honedge being violent. They seemed only ready to protect her if she was in danger.

When Froakie finally hopped back to her shoulder, she tapped at Naeya and pointed to the bag again. She wanted to try going into a ball.

With a little giggle, Naeya reached into the slot of her bag where she put the Pokeballs and tapped the button once to expand the device before holding it in front of Froakie. Froakie touched her hand against the button and it simply minimized again. Froakie got upset and smacked it down back into Naeya's bag. It confirmed worry for the nurse on the other side of the counter, while Xharye and Yuuka laughed at how Froakie reacted.

As soon as they finished in the Pokecenter, the girls headed out toward the normal type zone for Yuuka's Teddiursa.


	5. Chapter 5

Froakie continued to pout about not being able to go into a Pokeball, Honedge hung comfortably over Naeya's shoulder like a longsword, Xharye called out her ice-type Ninetails and rode on her back at the pace that Yuuka and Naeya walked. It was a comfortable, nice and cool walk through the street as Ninetails' presence cleared others out of the way for the trio. After a few minutes of walking through the city, a little instruction on directions from Xharye, they paused for a moment in front of a surprising sight for Yuuka and Naeya. A massive park with a large traditional cobblestone path, lots of fluffy looking grass, and a few big trees to provide shade on the hot days. The centre of the park had a very tall statue of a Pokemon unfamiliar to Naeya and Yuuka.

"That statue, I'm sure you're curious, is sculpted in the image of the region's legendary Pokemon. Other regions regard their legendary Pokemon highly, or don't know about them because of the loss of knowledge over time. We're mostly passive toward the legendary here. As long as we leave it be, it sleeps happily and when it is awake without purposely waking it, it simply eats from the Noyia fruit tree in its subterranean cavern. Yup, that big ol' lovable looking dragon up there is also a fairy type. My older sister brought me to meet it while it was sleeping one time and we updated its information into our Pokedex. You see where it's brighter grey on the statue? The real colour is light pink, like sis wears. Where it's a little darker, it's scales which seem like molten silver, always flowing underneath the surface as if the scales were transparent. Its eyes match the pink in colour, but the statue is a little inconsistent there. The eyes aren't like any other Pokemon. The eyes are human-like. Yup, Vescalla is a thing of pride and fear here. The few times in our history it has been awake, it's been chaos. Need most of the people on the island to blow into a lull flute to put it back to sleep. A little scary how it looks a lot like a really tall human turned into a dragon, right?"

After the long explanation when they came across the statue of the park, she smiled at them and tapped Ninetails to keep leading the way.

"I remember you mentioning a cult which gathered Absol together to force the legendary out of hibernation before...is there anything else we should know about them? Are they dangerous outside of trying to wake Vescalla?"

Xharye sighed as if she was hoping it wouldn't be brought up. She had initially brought up the cult when she mentioned Absol being banned from the region. It was only a matter of time a threatening force would be asked about by young adults.

"Well...it's really not spoken of a lot here, but sometimes the cult has people leave the region for long periods of time, and they return with powerful Pokemon. Pokemon which don't belong to them. It's only smaller other regions since the powerful trainers of the other well known regions like Johto and Kalos are much stronger and more capable of handling criminals. I heard from someone who moved here at the time I became a trainer, that they followed the cult here after seeing them leave their home, and their family and the Pokemon were murdered. Since then whenever I come across one of those filth, especially now that my team is undefeated...except sis, I apprehend them and have them locked up. Those people are horrible, and they don't even second guess the idea of killing people."

Naeya started fuming over hearing how wretched the cult really was. Not only her family and those of her friends, but many other families were destroyed by them. Stealing Pokemon from powerful trainers. Froakie and Honedge both seemed to respond to the hostility she felt toward the cultists, which made Yuuka and Ninetails back away from her a little. Xharye, Ninetails and Yuuka stared at her in shock. Naeya's emotions so far were between a little happy, to depressed. There hadn't been any anger yet, and the anger she currently showed them could be compared to a Hydreigon after tugging its tail.

"That kind of reaction...please don't tell me..."

"That person who told you of following the cult here, well, our stories are exactly the same. We were away for graduation from school, and we came home to our families, the Pokemon our parents raised with us, all dead. They were...almost unrecognizable. It was sickening. Xhova isn't kind to foreigners, so we brought them all here and yesterday, almost all day we spent mourning them and having them buried in the cemetery. It still hurts, the memory of it is still so clear. It makes me...feel like the important parts inside were ripped out and sit in those graves with my family."

Xharye couldn't keep her positive mood through that. It was the first time Naeya and Yuuka saw her sad. Xharye was a person brimming with positivity, but even her positivity couldn't last through hearing what happened to them. Tears fell down her face and Ninetails wiped the tears away for her with the closest of her tails. Naeya was crying from the recollection. The sadness, the anger toward the cult, the pain she felt when she was reminded of the horror which awaited her in the basement of her old home. Everything was hitting her hard. Of course Yuuka being as sensitive as she was also cried at the situation.

After a good few minutes of crying, eventually they continued back toward the normal type zone. The rest of the travelling was done in silence. Nearly a full thirty minutes while the group walked there, the only sounds among them was their breathing, footsteps, the odd clink of Honedge shifting in its sheath and Froakie rubbing at her cheeks as if trying to push the healing gel out of her mouth. Her mouth wouldn't open, wouldn't be force open. It was part of the work of the medical gel.

Finally, they reached the gate which told them they were leaving the city, and on the other side of another gate, there were a lot of different normal type Pokemon charging around, or doing whatever. There were a bunch of Tauros getting some exercise, Miltank grazing, Zigzagoon and Linoone playing with each other, Rattata and Raticate playing hide and seek around larger Pokemon. There was so much going on, it was almost dizzying. At first sight, it was almost bleak on whether they would find a Teddiursa.

Xharye hopped off of Ninetails and called her back to the Pokeball without removing the ball from the belt. She continued walking ahead a little, turned around and told Naeya and Yuuka to race her to the ranch building far ahead in the middle of the field. Naeya's mood finally picked up, and so did Yuuka's, but Yuuka took off as fast as she could to keep up with Xharye which surprised Xharye, but Naeya simply watched where her feet were going so she wouldn't trip on any Pokemon or anything else. Naeya, despite being nearly as strong as any boy, only had good reflexes when it came to something she could see and something immediate with her hands. Her feet were very clumsy.

She watched on as Yuuka and Xharye raced ahead. She smiled and Froakie moved up onto her head from her shoulder. She played with her hair and she laughed at how much it tickled. Eventually she grabbed Froakie and held onto her in her arms.

Shortly after moving Froakie to her arms, a Fearow screeched overhead and a few Bouffalant charged by. One was slower, and because of the pounding against the ground the large group caused, barely in time because of Froakie pointing in the direction the Bouffalant, She lightly tossed Froakie up to land on her head, turned and caught Bouffalant by the horns just before it was about to ram her, and stood her ground. Her ankle felt it would buckle, her wrists hurt a little, but surprisingly, she was able to hold off the very powerful buffalo Pokemon from hurting her, with her own strength.

It took her a few seconds to register exactly what she had done, but when she redirected the Bouffalant to join the others, she was facing toward the entrance gate and a strikingly similar face to Xharye was standing there. She was a few years older, and instead of light blue for the same designed outfit and hair colour Xharye wore, she had light pink.

"First time I've seen a trainer strong enough to hold back a Bouffalant at full strength. What's your name?"

She didn't seem that phased by what she just witnessed, but she also had a feeling about her that she saw and experienced a lot of strange things. That she witnessed strange things very often. She walked over and reached up to pat Froakie on the head. She noticed Honedge's sash hanging over Naeya's one shoulder and walked around to rub her finger just along the section of handle outside of the eye. Honedge was very happy, and so was Froakie with the attention.

"I-I'm Naeya. I'm a new trainer as of today."

She ended up back in front of Naeya, looked a little down into her eyes. She was taller than her. A mysterious girl who gave Naeya the impression of a faerie. Except faerie were small. The girl definitely fit the kind of description which would match personality of a faerie. Mischievous and whimsical.

She was especially surprising when she pecked her lips against Naeya's cheek and took a step back with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

"You have a Pokemon scent on you. Not the ones around you or in the Pokeball at your waist. You smell like Vescalla, our legendary here in Taffola. You also smell like fairy type Pokemon. You aren't really a human...but a ditto, right?"

Naeya was stunned from the kiss on her cheek, but then she gave a confused expression as the strange girl called her a Pokemon.

"You're much more like a fairy type than me."

"That's because most of my team are fairy type. Nah, you aren't a Ditto. Much more like Mew. Mew is much more difficult to understand than anything else after all. And a fantastic strong Pokemon. That's how you were able to hold back the Bouffalant so easy."

Naeya sighed and shook her head, forgetting Froakie was up there as she grabbed onto Naeya's hair to hold on.

"I was raised by my parents who were from Kalos. This is the first time I've heard of Mew. Is it a legendary Pokemon of some region? I'd...also like to hear your name."

She smiled when she heard Naeya ask for her name.

"Well, of course the origin Pokemon Mew wouldn't give away the disguise they're wearing. Anyway, it's nice to meet you Naeya. My name is Xhasca. My little sis Xharye probably told you about me already right?"

Naeya recalled brief mention of this older sister character, that she introduced Xharye to the legendary Pokemon of the region. There really wasn't much else she said.

"Darn, she must not be comfortable talking about it with others still. I'm the current zone champion for the fairy and electric type zones, as well as Taffola's champion. Xharye doesn't talk about it, but she's the current champion of the water and dragon type zones. She doesn't like talking about it because she lost the last champion deciding tournament in the last round against me."

When it hit her, Naeya took another step back, grabbed Froakie from her head, hugged her to her chest and bowed her head lightly.

"Sorry if I was disrespectful Champion Xhasca."

She laughed and pulled Naeya's gaze up by lifting her face by the chin with a single finger. She looked mischievous yet again. It surprised Naeya even more that time she was kissed, on the lips.

"Let's go tease Xharye for a bit, alright?"

She was so fast and unpredictable. So whimsical and surprising that Naeya was left completely flustered. She had never been kissed on her lips before. Her mother used to kiss her on the cheek or forehead, but her lips were being saved for a future romantic relationship. Naeya's heart fluttered as long as Xhasca was in her vision at all. And she was stuck there, even when she closed her eyes.

She followed Xhasca to the farm building further into the ranch they were in, and she wondered if the feelings she was told about by her parents, the signs that she would be in love...those feelings she was currently feeling for Xhasca were really telling her she was in love with her.

When they arrived at the ranch building, Naeya noticed that a lot of baby Pokemon were hopping and playing around Yuuka. Naeya felt proud when she saw a Teddiursa sitting on Yuuka's lap snuggling against her. Xharye was talking to someone else behind Yuuka. Xhasca didn't seem to have any delicacy as she walked up as cautiously as possible behind Xharye and tickled her sides in the middle of explaining something to the ranch hand who seemed to be signing off the Teddiursa to Yuuka. Xharye yelped in response to the tickling, turned around and stopped herself just short of shoving Xhasca away from her. Her eyes stared at Naeya's face as if something even more surprising was on it than having been tickled by her older sister. That surprise turned to anger as she turned her expression on Xhasca again and the question on her mind was short and sharp, like a dagger.

"You _kissed_ her?! You don't even have a boyfriend but you've given your first kiss to a brand new trainer?! You realize you can't have kids between two girls, right?!"

Naeya was surprised Xharye knew, until it hit her that maybe Xhasca's lipstick was the kind that left a mark. She pulled her hand mirror out of her bag and sighed when she noticed the bright light pink lipstick on her right cheek and directly on her lips. They looked embarrassingly sloppy when she realized it.

"Naeya's like a Pokemon though! She's like Mew, and Mew can transform and have babies with any Pokemon. You saying that doesn't matter anyways. What matters is the feeling is real for me. I wouldn't kiss just anyone."

Xharye sighed when Xhasca explained that she did it because her feelings were real.

"Did you at least ask her if she was okay with it?"

"No need. Gardevoir told me Naeya's heart has been fluttering and excited ever since I kissed her. She shares my feelings."

Xharye turned and looked at Naeya who was still staring at her reflection where she had been kissed. Froakie was also looking into the mirror awkwardly. Xharye could see it on her face that Naeya was absorbed by the feelings Xhasca was telling her were real. She could see that both of them were feeling the same thing.

"Oh, are you okay Naeya? I could swear it looked like you stopped a charging Bouffalant with your bare hands, but it just stopped, right?"

"Nope, she definitely stopped the Bouffalant. You should see the ground where she held it back. Dug right in. I told you she's like Mew. Incredibly strong. And cute."

Xharye was getting annoyed at how much Xhasca was intentionally being annoying, but she couldn't deny that things were definitely strange around Naeya. That she was attracting Pokemon which had the excessively rare characteristic that they are normally violent against people and unable to be healed by the same means as other Pokemon. That she was already so incredible and surprising as a person yet she hadn't even known Naeya for a full day.

"You should still be responsible and careful. You'll have to resign as champion of the region if people find out you have a girlfriend."

"That would be fine. I only wanted to have fun with my favourite friends. You can be the champion. You only barely lost that battle anyway. Why don't we do an announcement of you taking my position, then I can help Naeya with her challenge of the zones?"

The ranch manager and Yuuka seemed to be paying attention to the conversation, and stared at the sisters who were arguing about love and the champion title.

"You know I'm too busy helping the Professor to add your champion title to my responsibilities. I'm only fifteen sis. You're nineteen. You're an adult. Why don't you finally start acting like one?"

Xhasca slapped Xharye turned around and walked away, grabbing Naeya's hand as she left.

Naeya gave one concerned look back toward Yuuka, who had a bit of a confused expression, but she smiled and waved while Naeya didn't resist Xhasca pulling her away. Naeya was now separated from all the people she grew up with. Somehow, she only regretted not finding out a little more about Juez. Was what Xharye said about Juez true?

The soft and gentle hand which held hers nearly managed to wash away any concerns she had. Between the Pokemon which continued to flock to her and the love she was receiving, it were as if the region were trying to fill what was taken from her when she left her home.

The bright afternoon sky overhead told Naeya that she was going to have a lot to experience with Xhasca. The day ahead was going to keep on surprising her, she imagined. Nothing has been quiet since she left home.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ah, before we register you to start working toward a zone challenge, let's go visit the court hall. One of the reasons I forgot about while being caught up with you and sis. Apparently a friend of yours intentionally pushed sis' Togekiss to the point she used an aura sphere on another of your friends. As champion, new arrivals fall under my decision of punishment."

Naeya was reminded of the disgusting feeling she felt toward Tresk after what he did. Despite him being one of the few friends she grew up with, she was never close to him or really fond of him at all. He was a constant bully. He was actually disgusting, smelling of poison Pokemon a lot of the time despite the only poison type his parents having being a Venomoth which actually leaves an okay scent to smell in comparison to him. He didn't take proper care of himself. He didn't like other people. What he did like, was tormenting others. He was basically a human dark type.

"You don't seem worried about your friend's trial. Or is it something else?"

Naeya steamed over it enough that when she caught herself, she already explained exactly her opinion of the trial.

"Tresk is an idiot. He's selfish. A constant bully. He doesn't care about consequences or anyone else. He got Juez hurt because of his selfish idiotic prodding at Togekiss. I can't even stand being within breathable distance of him for more than a few seconds without scent blockers attached on the inside of my nostrils. He's as putrid as a Grimer, as annoying as a Patrat and as as selfish as a Murkrow. He's no friend of mine, and as far as I'm concerned, he deserves a good long time behind bars to realize it isn't okay to be like he is."

Xhasca was surprised by how assertive Naeya became from the boil over of her frustration toward him. Normally she was good at holding back her emotional reactions to situations, but it really got to her. Juez really was a friend of hers. Tresk was just an annoying other foreign person of the home they used to share who caused her nothing aside discomforts and annoyance. Who promoted her anxiety of being social with other people. She really wasn't used to talking a lot, though she did have a hidden assertive personality. Her throat hurt after ranting about her opinion of Tresk.

"I'm impressed. You seemed the quiet type completely, but when something really gets to you, you can really go all out...well, now it's my goal to get you that excited talking about love. I'd be happy to go on about every little thing I found that I love about you, but we really should keep it as quiet as possible for a while at least."

That shut her back up. Embarrassment was a good way to get Naeya flustered and quiet. Xhasca saw that as something she could turn into a way for her to search for things Naeya loves about her. Xhasca was truly absorbed in her feelings for Naeya. Not completely though as she noticed an incoming attack to which she summoned her Sylveon from her belt. All the communication it took for her to battle alongside her Pokemon was thought, because Sylveon and Gardevoir were spreading her thoughts through the team so they knew when it was their turn to listen. Sylveon summoned a reflect screen which blocked a Golem which had been launched at them, and it was set to explode. Xhasca grabbed Naeya and pulled her enough out of the way that the reflect would protect them from the blast of Golem's explosion. Golem lay on the ground fainted after exhausting itself from exploding, while Sylveon Xhasca and Naeya were safely evacuated a short few steps back from their assailants. At least from the immediate threat. There were more behind.

Xhasca called another of her Pokemon from her belt, the psychic type Raichu to hold off the rear of the group since the situation was well planned apparently. There were about half a dozen people wearing the same kind of outfit Naeya was familiar with as the outfit of the people who killed her family. Fear was gone in an instant, replaced with a rage she couldn't compare with even the feeling she had before. She had people related to the death of her family and the families of people she cared about in front of her, and this time, they weren't going to have the chance to kill another person.

Before Naeya had a chance to start working with Froakie and Honedge to start fighting the cultists, another Pokemon was called from Xhasca's belt. An Ampharos which also mega-evolved cast a cotton guard around the ground of Naeya Xhasca and the defending Pokemon. Using the cotton guard to distract the cultists, Xhasca had the group warped from the ambush location to the rear of the larger gathering of cultists.

"Thunder wave should be enough. Don't hurt them too much Amma."

The Ampharos let out a confirming hum and an electric current surged out around them, nearly catching Naeya Froakie and Honedge. The wave of paralysing electricity rendered all of the people around them incapable of moving. Even the Pokemon they were readying to launch.

"You should be more careful Champion."

Just before Xhasca called Ampharos back as well as her Raichu and Sylveon, she went back to silently communicating, Ampharos using some kind of blinding attack against a barrage of...machines.

The machines simply exploded to dust as a distraction. The light of Ampharos using its blinding flash attack cut through the dust, and Ampharos caught another Pokemon which launched toward them. Instead of another Golem, this time, a Haxorus had leapt in. Apparently the trainer of the Haxorus wasn't aware of how fragile that dragon type was to more mentally powerful dragons like mega Ampharos. A single burst of dragon pulse against Haxorus' belly as it descended blew it back, falling on top of the trainer. Haxorus was knocked unconscious by the one hit, showing the difference between two dragons. Xhasca was incredible though. She held Naeya back from acting on the darkest state her mind had been in yet. She did that all while fighting off a massive group of cultists.

After returning Ampharos to its ball as well, Xhasca pulled a large and advanced Pokegear from her purse, calling someone. It caught Naeya off guard. She had a cell phone for the purpose of browsing the internet and keeping in consistent contact with her family and friends before, but the Pokegear was specifically made for the use of trainers.

"Right, between the gates of the normal type zone ranch and the gate for the land entrance of the city. Have them here in less than a minute so none of these annoyances can escape like last time I left pick up to this branch."

It wasn't a few minutes after that call over her Pokegear that some police forces arrived to apprehend the cultists. During that time, Xhasca leaned herself, exhausted against Naeya's shoulder. Xhasca wasn't hiding it from the police officers at all, her exhaustion and otherwise being tired stopped her from caring about other people knowing about her being close with Naeya. It certainly didn't last long that she was hiding the feelings she had.

Naeya's anger from before toward the cultists faded while she was in physical contact with Xhasca. Like she had some kind of chemical reaction which calmed her. It made Naeya feel very warm, happy. With Xhasca, she couldn't be uncomfortable. It was something she wasn't used to. She was close with Yuuka of course, but they were only friends.

"Well...as much as I'd love to keep standing here like this or moving to a sitting position like this, I have that business at the court, so lets get going, okay?"

Xhasca seemed against the very idea of moving from where she was. Naeya felt the same way. They both wanted to keep feeling the contact they were sharing there. Before they started walking away, Xhasca grew shy, and held her hand out to Naeya. When Naeya responded quickly to the gesture and grabbed hold of the extended hand, snuggling up against Xhasca, she was given a warm and loving expression which made her feel even more happy.

The pair earned a lot of stares when they walked the streets holding onto each other like they were. They took a good forty five minutes getting to the city hall where they went up the elevator to a court room waiting area, and then a court room.

A judge was the only person in the court room at the moment, who was startled to see Xhasca, especially with another person. His gaze fell to how the two were holding onto each other.

"Interesting..."

He straightened up and walked out to greet Xhasca properly.

"Welcome, Champion Xhasca. Are we ready to start the trials today?"

The man was an elder, grey hair, plump with a full beard which made Naeya uncomfortable. Plenty about him felt discomforting. Such as his eyes which held a hidden resentment. The command his stature demanded, despite the lack of any wisdom behind his appearance. He seemed the type of person who put on airs to achieve whatever they wanted, unafraid of being crooked. Naeya didn't want to trust him to handle the judging of Tresk let alone dangerous criminals and cultists. She could imagine him giving light sentences or freeing cultists after giving them long sentences.

"Who's your girlfriend here Champion Xhasca?"

He instantly paired the two of them together as if it were natural. For the moment at least, he was considerate of their relationship. It made Naeya's mind ease up about him a little. Just a little though.

"Ah, this here is Naeya. She's a new trainer. I'm going to help guide her through her challenges of the zones. Her Honedge and Froakie here are going to become quite good, as well as her Horsea she has clipped to her belt. She's very surprising, so it would be fun to help her become strong enough to challenge my place as champion soon."

The judge nodded his head, walked back behind the podium and sat down in the chair there, pressing a button before calling for the first trial to be brought in. Tresk. A minute later, he was brought into the room bound by a Lucario.

Xhasca brought Naeya to her space near the judge where they would oversee the way the judge would handle the trial. Tresk noticed Naeya beside Xhasca and immediately started shouting about her being there for the trial.

"Why the hell is she here?! She's a mute most of the time, she has nothing to say about this."

"That's where you're wrong, Tresk. She was talking to me a short while ago about how you are a lot of the time. You should be more concerned about this trial and careful. Lucario there is just as strong and capable of using aura sphere as you had unleashed on the friend of yours who was hospitalized. And you wouldn't be treated nearly as well as in a hospital when your punishment is decided. Take your seat and we'll go over the events which led to this and decide your punishment."

He shot a glare at Naeya as he heard about her mentioning about his past. Maybe he thought it wouldn't be a harsh trial without her involvement, but now he was stuck with a fair trial which suited his actions. Xhasca motioned for Lucario to put him in the chair since he refused to follow her words by sitting when he was told.

"This trial of Tresk whose family region is Johto, home region is Xhova will now begin. Here are the events which have been reported by witnesses of the event and others in the area. After being warned about Xharye's Togekiss being slightly temperamental toward a rough or annoying person, he prodded Togekiss into using the aura sphere attack. While Togekiss was readying herself to unleash the aura sphere, Tresk grabbed victim Juez and pulled him into the attack before getting out of the way himself. Hospital report says that the damage to Juez in the attack is severe bruising and cracking in the rib cage, and scratches as well as concussions from the impact with the ground after landing from taking the aura sphere. The base charge of this type of crime is equivalent to calling your own Pokemon to intentionally harm another person without cause or reason. The regular sentence for this action is normally a full year in prison."

He was about to start arguing, but Lucario used psychic to stop him from interrupting the trial any more without prompt.

Xhasca stepped forward and started her part of the trial.

"I agree with the current sentence, however with further information of harassment toward Juez and the other new trainers he arrived with, I motion for him to receive extended time in prison to two full years in prison. Also, he should be placed in confinement with the fighting type Pokemon guards. This is so that he doesn't group with people of similar charge as him who might promote his actions."

After finishing her addition to the trial, Xhasca turned her attention briefly toward Naeya. Naeya nodded her head that she agreed with the decision made about his punishment.

Tresk was fuming furious, being held back by Lucario's strength. After struggling enough, he managed to get out of the hold temporarily enough that he was able to charge himself toward Naeya. In response to his action, she let him close enough to slam her knee into his crotch. The sound of a crunch happened when the connection happened, which would obviously be incredibly painful. He doubled over and Lucario walked over, grabbing him by the feet and dragging him out of the room painfully instead of leading him out normally.

Trials went on for another hour before it came to the cultists who were captured from the attack on them just before heading to the city hall.

"Cultists will have the same punishment as usual. Life sentence confinement to the Metang training zone. Now I'd better get to work helping Naeya with her challenge of the zones."

After the trials, she was even more exhausted, she couldn't hide it from Naeya. Naeya knew easily that Xhasca was pushing herself. After getting out of the city hall building, she nudged Xhasca lightly, mentioning that she should take care of her exhaustion instead of worrying about Naeya's challenge of the zones. Xhasca was about to argue, but was stopped by her Pokemon who seemed to agree with her needing some rest.

"Fine, fine. Then, let's go to my place and rest for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we'll go to the water zone so you can start working at your zone challenge with Horsea."

Satisfied with Xhasca promising to take care of herself, Naeya followed her until they reached a massive apartment building where the two rode the elevator up to the top floor. There, a room was labelled with a sign it belonged to the champion. Inside, there was a care station for Pokemon, a massive bed, the room was huge overall, twice as tall as most rooms. Obviously the room was meant for her Pokemon as well as herself. Naeya was pulled along to the massive bed. Xhasca pulled her belt off and apparently she made the command for her Pokemon to come out of their balls on their own, because they all burst out, making themselves comfortable in the room with the setting sun making the room glow a warm red.

Naeya made note of the Pokemon Xhasca had with her. There were the few she knew of from before, Sylveon, Ampharos and Raichu she saw, the Gardevoir she'd hear of as well as a Dedenne and a Pokemon she thought she recognized as the statue of the park, but it was different, smaller and more dragon-like than human-like. One of the region exclusive dragon types. A fairy dragon which resembled the legendary of the region. Maybe that Pokemon and the legendary were related.

On that thought, Naeya plopped back onto the bed beside Xhasca, looked at her and felt her lips being kissed yet again.

"I never thought kissing would feel so good. Also, your lips taste...they taste sweet, like fruits. You eat fruit a lot, right?"

Naeya was reminded that it was evening and she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. Breakfast was a berry pancake with whipped cream and apple glaze. Yes, she would have to admit to eating plenty of fruit, but it was mostly because her sweet tooth couldn't be easily sated.

"I had the berry glaze pancake special at the harbour inn this morning for breakfast, and haven't eaten since. Good thing it was so filling, because I'm still not hungry since then."

"Ah, I thought I recognized that taste. Your lips are clean too...well, except you have my lipstick on them a little sloppy. That's my fault. You really retain taste."

Naeya felt her head heat up like a blast burn attack, and her heart felt like it was taking an extreme speed. Her mind was thinking of what kind of Pokemon moves suited the situation, and she had a feeling she was falling more for a cute charm ability Xhasca had naturally. The same effect as using the attract move, but specific to Naeya, the cute charm was making her lose a lot of the habits she normally had. Usually such things were fake, a temporary way to distract for Pokemon during a battle, but between humans, there were no cases of such abilities or moves. Either she was under heavy infatuation, or she was in love. She smiled at Xhasca and decided it was definitely love as she finally took a kiss of her own from Xhasca's lips. She savoured the soft, sweet feeling. She grew annoyed at the feeling which slightly separated their lips, the lipstick between them. Eventually, she was too exhausted to care, and the two fell asleep in embrace.


	7. Chapter 7

When Naeya woke in the room she fell asleep in with Xhasca, the room was warm, but only in the sense that the morning sun was warming it. She didn't feel Xhasca near her. Only Froakie and Honedge who were sleeping next to her on the side Xhasca wasn't on. When her eyes finally gained the strength to lift their lids, she saw that indeed, Xhasca wasn't where she had been, hadn't stirred in her sleep and ended up on another part of the bed away from her.

Naeya sat up in the bed, immediately stirring Honedge and Froakie from their sleep. None of Xhasca's Pokemon were left in the room aside from a Pokemon who didn't come from her team belt the evening before. A Liepard slept at the care station, curled up comfortably.

The room was definitely the same room, and Naeya could...smell Xhasca on the bed where they slept. It made her conscious that she was able to tell Xhasca's scent so easily. Her stomach growled, and as well did Froakie's. Honedge, as she remembered with her father's Aegislash didn't consume food. Didn't need to or have a means of doing so.

Froakie croaked in response to hearing her stomach growl, and when Naeya turned to look at Froakie she was surprised to see the medical slime used in her mouth sitting on the bed – making a mess. She pulled a tissue out of her bag and grabbed the slime, bringing it to the waste bin beside the care station. There, on the table of the care station, there was a note. A pink sparkled piece of paper with cute, bold and cursive writing. A note left for Naeya.

 _Good morning sleepy head. I got a call while you were asleep for me to check on something with the court. I should be done with them around ten this morning, so have some breakfast and relax in the room, maybe do some care on your Pokemon at the station where I'm leaving this note. I'll be back before lunch time, so please wait for me. Please be careful. Oh, and the reception has marked you as my spouse, so your breakfast downstairs will be free. I didn't ask them to mark you as my spouse, must have been assumption from how we were yesterday...not that I'm against that if you want to go that far with our relationship._

 _I love you. I'm looking forward to lunch together._

Naeya was hot with embarrassment at the suggestion of them already being married, although it only made her incredibly happy when she imagined a future with Xhasca the same as she had experienced with her so far. It was incredible how much feeling she had developed over such a short time. Naeya wondered if there was something wrong with her.

She smiled and turned to Froakie and Honedge who were looking up at her. She was reminded of her Horsea who was sitting in a Pokeball in her bag which was on the bed. She walked over and grabbed her bag before she beckoned Honedge and Froakie to take their positions on her like they were the day before. It was strange. She was adapting in such a strange way. She was so quickly becoming used to having Pokemon with her, and her mind was turning focus from what her life was, to what it might become. She was becoming happy from things she never knew she could.

When Froakie and Honedge were ready secured to her, she opened the door, only to find Xharye on the other side of the door confused.

"Ah! Wait...sorry...guess...never mind."

She was flustered and seemed ready to say something, then stop until she turned around saying to not mind her presence.

"Join me for breakfast?"

After Naeya said those words, Xharye stopped running away. She turned and smiled.

"I really am the baby sister aren't I? Of course you two might be like that...I just thought..."

It seemed Xharye was expanding on her imagination of what might have happened.

"Please, I don't know this apartment complex very well. I'm not sure where the restaurant is. Xhasca left early this morning for some court business."

Xharye seemed to calm down a bit after hearing that Xhasca wasn't around.

"Right, you're still new here. Anyway, let's get going."

She seemed calm for a second, but it didn't last long before she was flustered again.

"Y-you...might want to clean your face...and change your clothes."

Naeya was reminded of the lipstick Xhasca was wearing. How it left marks...then... She turned around and went back into the room, waiting for Xharye to get inside before closing the door. She stopped for a second outside the room, looking at the plaque for room ownership beside the door. After that second, her face was beat red. Naeya became curious why Xharye became red.

"Wh-what...?"

"Why does the ownership plaque show you and sis as a married couple?!"

Naeya sighed and grabbed up the note left by Xhasca. She handed it over to Xharye, who looked it over with the kind of sense about her she wasn't likely paying much attention to it.

"Why would the apartment staff change the ownership of the room so easily? You aren't actually married... Never mind. Get ready. The first buffet will be replaced shortly with a fresh batch, so let's get down there in time for the fresh batch."

Naeya nodded her head and looked around the room confused. She didn't know where a rest room to see to her appearance was. There were a pair of small doors at the far end of the room from the bed. When she took a peek in the first one, she noticed it was Xhasca's wardrobe. After nodding that it was definitely all similar, she closed the door and moved to the other door. When she confirmed it was a washroom, she had Froakie and Honedge wait outside the door for her to finish. She was thankful she packed the compressed clothing with her at all times in case of messes like on her current outfit.

The washroom was...normal, surprisingly when thinking of the room it was attached to. All Naeya really needed though was the mirror and the sink to wash her face of the lipstick. She had some makeup remover in her bag thankfully, because the lipstick really stuck to her. Which meant it would be unfortunate for her clothes unless she could get the colour out from her clothes with the makeup remover and then have the makeup remover stay when she compressed the outfit so that it would continue to clean until she next removed it from her bag for wearing. She really enjoyed the clothing compressors her parents had gotten her for her recent birthday a few months before, in anticipation of how useful it would be on a journey as a fresh trainer.

Naeya wasn't nearly as fond of her reflection as she was seeing other people. Even when she had some anxiety from being around a lot of people. She wished that she hadn't tanned as much as she had living on Xhova. When reminded of the word tan, she dug into her bag and found something else her mother added in with the clothing compressors. Sunscreen with the added function of lowering the tan level of skin. It was apparently something that her mother needed a lot, because the trait of tanning easily was definitely passed through her. Naeya's dark brown hair seemed it would fit more with a lighter skin tone, and her eyes definitely made her base genetics show through the tan. Normally, she should be pale as a ghost. Like her father, or like the young pictures of her mother.

She was reminded that she had recorded the important pictures in her phone and sighed. She applied the lotion everywhere she was comfortable with, which was nearly everywhere, then grabbed the lighter colour outfit, primary white outfit with violet. She made sure the lotion was setting into her skin, and it eventually stopped toning her skin tone down a little short of the pale complexion her parents would naturally have. Making sure the tone down made it everywhere she applied the lotion, she took note of how well she was able to stay in shape, to become as strong as possible for the day she might have to fight alongside a Pokemon and support them in battle. It was originally to honour Honedge, but now she was determined to fight alongside her Pokemon.

She finally put on her clothes. Long light violet knee socks, white pleated skirt with matching violet bottom and top ring, white elbow sleeve shirt with collar and elbows as violet trim, and a white cycle hat she received a long time before from her mother with a purple ribbon dragging behind. She tied her hair into a hanging tail behind her before putting the hat on. Her near-white blue eyes stared back at her in the mirror, saying she was ready to confront the Taffola region as a Kalos born trainer. She was ready to go, especially as she heard her stomach growl at her for taking so long.

On the other side of the door, Xharye was pacing back and forth, Froakie and Honedge following her like some kind of comedy act. Naeya giggled at the sight of them.

"Sorry I took as long as I did. The lipstick really takes effort to get out. I'll get Xhasca to look into the less intense balms if she insists on keeping stuff on her lips. I rarely wear makeup, but thankfully I had the remover in my bag, or I'd still be in there."

Xharye stared at Naeya as if she was seeing a different person.

"Who are you and what did you do with Naeya?"

Honedge and Froakie knew right away and took their positions on Naeya right away. They happily nodded away at the change of pace with Naeya's appearance.

"It's still me. If you're curious about my tone change, thank the sun lotion my Mom used to use. It only took a minute for that to set. Ah, and my clothes, they're from Kalos. My natural tone is originally supposed to be really pale by the way, but living on Xhova made me tan a lot."

"Not your appearance, even if it is really shocking. You're talking more now. Maybe you're just in a weird mood..."

Xharye seemed ready to give up on the concept of logic. She sighed and started walking away to the door leading out of the apartment. Naeya followed behind her, and the group of them and the Pokemon riding Naeya's shoulders made their way up through the elevator a single level to a massive restaurant. The ceiling of the restaurant was just as high as Xhasca's room, and just as far to the windows. It was different though in the sense that the restaurant took up the entire floor. The inner section of the floor was a kitchen with another elevator in the middle of it, lots of stoves and other cooking and cooling devices that Naeya was surprised yet not quite that she didn't recognize them all. The outer ring of the kitchen area was a calculated assortment of foods, in order of coldest to hottest.

Xharye led Naeya to the buffet service section where there was a cashier waiting to ring in new guests to the buffet. The cashier looked up and nodded when they saw Xharye, apparently she didn't need to pay for her food either with her positions. They almost stopped after just nodding the same way at Naeya.

"You are the wife of Champion Xhasca? Your picture shows you a little more tan..."

Xharye shook her head in exasperation.

"Right, I have this sun lotion which lowers skin tone. This is closer to my natural tone."

The cashier waited, Naeya got the hint right away that she was supposed to provide the visual proof of the lotion. After pulling it out of her bag and showing it to him, he nodded his head, then stared at it with a shocked expression.

"Kalos brand...unique ownership of Navella of the Elite Four... Are you Navella?!"

Naeya sighed. Of course that would be the assumption of someone who didn't know how long ago her mother was part of the Kalos Elite Four. It had been over twenty years since she was in the Kalos Elite Four.

"No, I'm Navella's only daughter, Naeya. Mom was in the Kalos Elite Four before I was born, so all I have are pictures and such to show of her."

The cashier became excited at the mention of having the chance to see an Elite Four member. He nodded his head and waited for Naeya to produce the pictures through her phone.

"Wow...you really look like her in the picture. With the outfit and the lighter complexion...yup. Wow though...she has an incredible team with her in the picture. She was a Psychic type master, right?"

In the picture, her mother was in the Psychic type zone of the Elite Four back then based around her addition to the Elite Four. Before, there was a Steel type member she replaced. She was surrounded by her restricted team of five Pokemon as member of the Elite Four. Her Meowstic, Delphox, Malamar, Medicham and Metagross were well known and feared by challengers of the Elite Four. For a long time, challengers had their challenge ended with their battle against her.

"How is she doing?"

Naeya was brought back from the memory of before she was born, memories she was told of by her parents about how amazing her mother was back then as a trainer. Naeya's mood soured when the subject of her current condition was asked.

"That's...not something I'd like to talk about."

Xharye noticed how the mood had turned because of the topic, what she'd heard from Naeya the previous afternoon when they were headed from the park to the normal type zone. She stepped in.

"Well, we'd really like to get to our breakfasts. How's the temperature of everything right now?"

He noticed how they were reacting and became nervous. She trembled as he nodded his head and shakily responded.

"R-r-right, th-the last f-fresh batch. Just came up. Everything is fresh in the banquet. Help yourselves."

He nodded his head and the two made their way through the banquet, filling dishes for themselves and dishes for Froakie and Horsea. Xharye explained as they fixed plates for Naeya's Pokemon that she fed her team before heading over to Xhasca's room. It was fine for Pokemon to be brought to the restaurant and eat there, but it was preferred that Pokemon have their food ordered and brought to the trainer's room, to avoid over crowding in the restaurant.

"That...was satisfying."

Froakie and Horsea tipped to their backs and sighed in agreement to the satisfaction.

"Are you not used to this kind of food? Considering that your mother was in an Elite Four, I find it hard to imagine you having anything less than amazing food most of your life. You seemed really surprised at the taste of the food though."

"Stop there. Just because Mom was in the Elite Four in Kalos, doesn't mean I was raised on the kind of prestige she had. My entire life was spent on Xhova, meaning my source of food was whatever my parents could afford or make themselves. Neither of my parents were...nearly as good at cooking as this food tastes. Sometimes Mom would let her Medicham and Delphox cook meals together, but they weren't much better than either of my parents at cooking. Delphox sometimes overcooked stuff, and Medicham had some times she was a little too strong at what she was doing and broke the kitchen."

Xharye laughed at how ridiculous it sounded. That someone could suffer bad food even with great trainers for parents.

"Keep in mind, not all trainers take a side journey into other things like learning how to cook. Mom was a trainer most of her time, barely exploring a little into Dad's interest of history. Dad was obsessed with history and sometimes concerned himself with training his team. Neither of them had much time at all in the kitchen aside eating the food that was prepared there by other people. I learned how to cook during school on Xhova, but it's traditional boring recipes that don't have much taste."

Xharye finally stopped laughing at how dismal the food situation was for Naeya. She knew then how big the event was for Naeya to have luxury food at a high class buffet.

"Well, it's getting close to ten, and sis'll be back shortly. Let's head back up to her room? I want to hear more stories about life on Xhova."

"Only if you'll tell me about life here."

Agreed, the two stood up, Horsea returned to her Pokeball and Froakie returned to Naeya's shoulder. The group headed back to the elevator to head down a floor to the room.

When the door of the elevator opened, it happened faster than a drugged Alakazam using teleport. Naeya, Xharye, Froakie and Honedge were splayed on an unfamiliar floor in a dark room which was stuffy and cramped. Were they abducted?


	8. Chapter 8

"Ah, good. We got extra with her, but at least we got the Champion's sister this time. Maybe we'll finally stop her from ruining our plans and throwing us back in jail repeatedly."

"You make sure to turn on the disable machine for Pokemon moves?"

"Of course I did. Wouldn't want them to destroy this base too."

After that short conversation, the heavy metal door slammed shut. Naeya's eyes complained against the near pitch-black dark, as far as she knew, there was no answer to the situation. She didn't recognize either voice, but it was obvious they had been captured by the cultists.

"They have a disabling machine? That's...damn, the dark type zone finally started working with them."

Naeya had an assumption of what a disabling machine did, but she wanted to clarify with Xharye since she seemed to be more knowledgeable about the situation.

"What does a disabling machine do?"

Xharye seemed to adjust around a bit until she felt she was facing where Naeya's voice had come from. When she was comfortable, she sighed and began to explain.

"Each type zone has a disable machine, meant for treatment areas like a Pokecenter. There are plenty of Pokecenters through the region, but the type zones in particular don't have any centres in their premises. Instead, the section near where they have their competitions for championship of the zone, there's an area set for healing Pokemon and people, a medic field where all forms of Pokemon move and attack are disabled. The disabling machine does that to ensure there's no battles in the safe area."

"So that means Froakie couldn't do something like use scald on the door until it's weak enough to be cut down by Honedge?"

Xharye laughed.

"Well, Froakie and Honedge might be unique enough that they aren't disabled by the machine. Anyway, the story of why these guys must have the machine. A month ago, the dark type zone filed for a replacement machine, because apparently theirs suffered critical damage from a Hydreigon using dark pulse too close to the area. Except apparently they had disposed of the damaged machine before the replacement was delivered. Well, guess where that not damaged machine went? Apparently the current champion of the dark zone is working with the cult. I used to assume the zone and cult were working together, until I got to know the previous people who worked in the zone. They were all good people, just enjoyed the more intense appearances of some of the dark types. Now you might understand why I was concerned with Tresk going for only dark types when I was asking about starters."

Naeya nodded her head and hummed as a secondary thought to the thought that it was unlikely Xharye could see or read the situation enough to notice the movement response.

"Well, let's see if Froakie and Honedge can use their moves and attacks before trying to find our way to the door. Unfortunately, it's hard to make out where the cultists were because of how the room is and the sounds being trapped around us."

Naeya turned her attention to Froakie and hoped her intentions would get through when she asked Froakie to use water shuriken toward the ceiling at as minimal strength as possible. If it would work, then the water would just splash back down .

Froakie got to work and bent down, ready to throw some water shuriken toward the ceiling away from where the group were sitting, but all Froakie could get were drops of water. Something like scald was definitely out of the question with that weak of a generation of Froakie's power. Maybe Honedge could do something like use sacred sword though?

Naeya asked Honedge to carefully try swinging at an empty space with the sacred sword move, which was immediately responded well. The move executed perfectly, the energy of the attack being used lighting the area around them a little. They were trapped in a closed area. There was a camera on the ceiling watching them, but otherwise, they were surrounded by nothing but walls.

"That's great, now we just need to pick a wall wisely and break out. We'll have to be quick and find the disable machine in order for my team to help us."

Naeya stood up and started walking along the walls, tapping her fingers lightly to see if she could hear one section being more hollow than the rest. When she found the spot she was looking for, she stepped back and asked Honedge to attack the weak part of the wall. Once a door was cut into the wall, a small amount of light poured in. There was luckily nobody on the other side of the wall. The group quickly and silently made their way through the basement styled floor, full of storage containers of multiple kinds and barrels stacked in such a way it would be easy to find them falling on someone.

After making their way through a few halls completely clear, they noticed the first sign of other people, four guards sitting at a table near a bunch of security monitors. They were all concentrating on a pile of Pokeballs on the table. They must not have noticed the breakout yet.

There was no way forward aside going past them. Naeya took a deep, silent breath and thought about it. If she were going to sneak past them, what would she do? Unfortunately, it seemed any generation moves and attacks weren't going to work, only pure physical abilities would work in the current situation. Honedge wouldn't be able to use shadow sneak to blend them into the shadows and sneak past them. That would be the only option for sneaking. The only other option would be to prepare a distraction and have the distracting catch up. Realistically, only Honedge would work since it could blend in with the environment quite well and hide its shape easily enough. Honedge didn't make any sound when it moved either when it was being careful of the sheath.

Just before Naeya was about to start that order, Froakie croaked, calling attention to them. Froakie motioned to her jaw that it was because it was still sore. Naeya sighed and realized the only answer now was to fight through them, her and Honedge alone together. She was afraid of what might happen to the group she was with. Would they be hurt? Would Honedge live up to the reputation as being a creature of killing? Would she surpass the strength she knew herself to have again like with stopping the Bouffalant?

She didn't have the time to answer any of those questions, hardly enough for those questions to run through her mind.

"Honedge, let's work together. Help guide my hand in a way that we don't seriously hurt them."

Xharye had another suggestion.

"You stopped the Bouffalant on your own yesterday, why not just knock them all unconscious with your own hands?"

Naeya didn't have a chance to respond to that suggestion as a Hitmonlee was called out of its Pokeball and reached out its strong leg in a rolling kick. Naeya reacted instinctively just barely in time, reaching up with her right hand and ducking down with the rest of her body. She used the momentum of Hitmonlee's strike to turn it into her own version of body slam, throwing him against a pair of the guards who were running toward them. Next, a Scrafty was called out.

"Use feint attack!"

The guard who called the Scrafty out and for the move to be used charged forward with the Pokemon, trying to be ready for anything she would do in response to the attack. When Scrafty's attack got close enough, thankfully not enough to land the strike it intended on Naeya, she grabbed Scrafty by the wrist, focused all of her energy and drove her free hand into Scrafty's chin in a powerful uppercut. Scrafty flew up and back on top of the cultist who called it out.

"Damn it! Is that girl a ditto or something?! She's way too powerful to not be a Pokemon!"

The last remaining opponent called out an Absol...only for Naeya to unleash something which surprised everyone in the room. Like she had seen her father's Arcanine do on occasion, she flew across the hall at blinding speed, and while she did so, she reached out her arms to catch the Absol and the cultist by their necks, sending them flying against the wall at the other end of the hall. All of the opponents, unconscious, and she was the only one who fought on her side.

"That...was like watching Ain's Lucario when mega-evolved. Wow. Remind me to warn Xhasca about how powerful you really are."

It terrified Naeya. That she was suddenly unleashing so much unbelievable strength. Worse, it felt like so much more was surging to be let out of her. She was horrified that she might not really be herself. That something might have happened to her. She'd never heard anything from her parents about any human ever displaying the strength of a Pokemon, but maybe it was something that happened on Taffola sometimes? That thought escaped her mind immediately with how surprised Xharye was of the display. She sighed and motioned for Xharye Froakie and Honedge to follow her.

They continued through the halls until they found a staircase. The only path forward. The next floor they came across was empty, an area that seemed like some kind of meeting place for the cult to discuss plans for their wicked deeds. They continued up past that floor to the next which seemed to be a kind of lobby area, where it might connect to outside.

"Hydreigon, use hyper beam."

As soon as they heard it, Naeya received the brunt of the attack, only to find that her body was...absorbing it. On the thought of it being convenient she could use mirror coat on the attack, she turned her vision on the Hydreigon that attacked them. A focused beam of the same energy she was hit with unleashed from between her eyes on the Hydreigon to the centre of the chest. Hydreigon was pushed back on the cultist who was commanding it.

"The hell is with that girl?!"

Every other cultist on the floor called out all of their Pokemon. All of a sudden, they were blocked off from entering the rest of the floor. Naeya found that she wasn't growing exhausted but more jittery and ready to continue fighting. She grew more scared of herself. Pokemon of all kinds rushed at them, each one, from Nuzleaf and Shiftry to Houndoom, Honchcrow, Mightyena and every other dark type Naeya had heard of aside legends rushed at them, to which she hoped her body was going to keep on surprising and unleash the common weakness of the dark types swarming after them, and her vision flashed as her hope came true and she unleashed the fairy type move dazzling gleam. The hoard of Pokemon dropped when her vision cleared, exhausted from the power of her attack. It only continued to terrify her. When she looked down at herself, she was thankful at least that she wasn't transforming into Pokemon with every attack she unleashed. The idea of being a Mew as suggested by Xhasca had almost convinced her.

"I figured I could finally join in just there, but...wow. Are you sure you aren't a Pokemon? I can't imagine a single Pokemon knowing the variety of moves you've shown except a legendary or Smeargle. I highly doubt you're a Smeargle though. Seriously though, that powerful of a Dazzling Gleam..."

At least the power of the attack only affected the enemies in front of them, because even the trainers were knocked unconscious from the attack. Meanwhile, Xharye Froakie and Honedge were perfectly fine behind her.

"Your attacks alone could probably win the championship. That's...almost terrifying."

Xharye put Naeya's fears into words she only became more afraid of. That her strength was that much. What was she?

"Hey...your tone...it seems a little lighter than before even when you had just put on the lotion. Are you exhausted after all that?"

Naeya shook her head in response. She wasn't even the slightest close to exhausted. Mentally maybe, but not her body at all. Her body was ready to keep fighting for as long as needed.

"I'm...just scared of myself. There's...there's no way I should be this strong at all. I'm not a Pokemon. I'm a human. I always have been. This is...ridiculous. I feel like my body wants to keep unleashing more and more and it's terrifying. If I'm lighter tone, it might just be from the fear or excitement chills. I'm scared to take a good look at myself right now."

Xharye understood with a little explanation.

"Anyway, maybe it'll be better for you to take a break. At this point, I'm pretty sure my team will be able to take over for your fighting. That Hydreigon obviously used an attack impossible in a field protected by the disable machine. You should just take a break and cool down. Afraid or excited, you'll get better if you don't push yourself."

Agreed, the group started making their way through the room over the unconscious Pokemon and cultists, and just as they realized the main exit of the floor was sealed, the mutter of an attack was made. Naeya didn't have chance enough to react, except to intercept the attack from hitting Xharye in the back of the head with the same movements of extreme speed. She took the pin missile from the Shiftry at full force, only for the attack to barely glance off of her. For once, the fighting hurt her. It actually hurt. It didn't leave a wound, but where the pin missile hit, she felt piercing pain run through her.

After a moment of recovering, she launched another hyper beam at the nearly unconscious Shiftry, rendering it completely unconscious.

"Well...that hurts like crazy..."

Naeya cupped her hands over her face, as if the pin missile might have deformed it. There was no blood, there was no feeling of a wound appearing, just intense pain.

"Try a potion?"

Naeya thought for a moment it might really work. She shook her head though, reaching for the overwhelming power in her, asking for it to use the recover ability. The pain faded, but as she removed her hands from her face, she felt her face change shape a little.

"That's...really pale, but also not what I was expecting at all. You're like a snow-white Mew in the face right now. At least your hair's still there and your hands haven't become paws. Seriously though...you're really a Mew..."

Naeya didn't know how to take what she was hearing at all. As she was hoping to be in denial over it, she reached her hand into her bag and grabbed out her hand mirror, only to watch the appearance return to just her being as pale complexion as she naturally would have been. It definitely wasn't the work of her mother's lotion.

She put the mirror away after watching the last of the transformation revert, and she turned to check the door. It seemed as such before, but it was blocked off by something. She didn't bother holding back the power surging from inside of her, she gathered a controllable amount and turned it into an aura sphere she used to destroy the blocked entrance. Outside was revealed...as them having been inside of a mountain. The entrance was disguised as part of the cliff. The aura sphere she unleashed was so powerful, that a clearing was made in the trees ahead of them, and it led to an even larger clearing, a type zone. The dark type zone.


	9. Chapter 9

There were many trainers clamouring to find out the source of the extremely powerful attack that came from the mountain, only to find that not one of the characters in front of them should be able to do that kind of damage.

"What happened here? Xharye? Was it your Togekiss?"

Xharye recognized the person who was asking, one of the better members of the dark type zone. Likely not involved with the cultists.

"Ah, yeah. We were trapped in there by cultists and she was getting really tired so I called her back right after using aura sphere to clear the path."

He chuckled.

"Well, Togekiss really packed a lot of energy into that last aura sphere with that amount of damage. That's really crazy. Did you just handle everything in there, or should we help clear the rest out?"

"Ah, if you wouldn't mind, I need to get Naeya here checked in to a hospital, so if you could, I'd really appreciate your help checking the rest of the place. I'll make a call to the police to have them pick up the guys we left unconscious. It might sound crazy, but they took a lot of physical attacks from my special focused team. That will explain the guys on the basement floor."

Xharye was being careful not to spill what really happened. She wanted to be more careful and ensure that as few people as possible knew about Naeya's situation. That she witnessed a human temporarily and marginally transform into a white Mew.

"Oh, can someone prepare a vehicle for us to get to the hospital quickly? It'll be best to give my team a rest and Naeya doesn't have any ride Pokemon yet."

"We can just have your team healed up quickly at the rest area, then you'll be good to fly over in less time than it would take to get a taxi over and to drive back."

Xharye agreed, but she was barely holding back that she was uncomfortable with the situation they were being put in. They were spending extended time with people she didn't know, and especially didn't know if they were secretly cultists.

Things went well however, and after ensuring her team was "healed", she called out the "refreshed" Togekiss to fly them back to the port city. When they arrived at the hospital entrance, she returned Togekiss to her ball and walked Naeya in with Froakie and Honedge still sticking to her like usual. They were more concerned than usual however.

"Can we-"

Xharye wasn't given the chance to finish her first attempt at conversation with the receptionist at the front counter. As soon as the chance rose again, she continued.

"Can we get Naeya here into emergency care? She's been very sick since this morning. She's Xhasca's...wife...please. Please help her."

Naeya wasn't really in the mood though. If she were in the hospital, and since she wasn't hurting at all any more, no longer showing signs of transformation, she might as well turn it into a visit with Juez and make sure he was doing fine. She was reminded of the condition she heard him to be in during the trial against Tresk the day before.

"The champion's wife? Really?"

The receptionist seemed sceptical of the suggestion, but just as she was about to question them on the subject, the welcome familiar voice of Xhasca sounded from behind them, concern in her voice.

"Thank goodness you're okay..."

Xhasca hugged Naeya from behind tight enough it might have hurt if her body was still remotely human.

"The champions wife...well, let's get some emergency staff over to take care of you, alright?"

Xharye nodded her head in response to the statement of near disbelief of the receptionist.

"I heard from the restaurant staff that you all just disappeared. What happened?!"

"Sis...! Please wait until we have some time alone. For now, I'll just mention they were after me, not Naeya, and it was the cult. I'll tell you more when we're alone."

Xhasca immediately started fuming angry at what she heard happened. It was enough to make her blood boil. She squeezed hard enough in the hug that Honedge panicked and flailed its sash out from under the grip. It rattled itself to show distaste at how violent Xhasca's hug was. However, Xhasca became worried when she realized Naeya's lack of response from it.

"I know you're strong enough to stop a Bouffalant, but...are you really okay?"

"Save it."

As soon as Xharye finished telling Xhasca to save the questions for later, four workers for the emergency department walked out with a stretcher and hurried to get Naeya on. Froakie moved to Xharye's head, and Honedge secured place on Xhasca's shoulder while following. When they made it to the checking room, where they checked Naeya's condition, Xharye and Xhasca were asked to sit down, which had Honedge move to between the chairs they were seated in.

"This blood pressure is very high."

"Her temperature is beyond fever point as well."

"Her heart rate is dangerously high."

"Her skin has patches of white fur around the abdomen."

At the mention of the fur, Xharye felt guilt for bringing her right to a hospital. If anything, she should have tried using Pokemon medicine to see if it would help or what it would do to her.

"Why does she have white fur patches Xharye?!"

Xhasca was almost furious about not being answered at this point. The medical staff turned their startled attention to them for a second before returning their attention to Naeya whose condition was steadily becoming more and more lethal for a human.

"Bordering fire Pokemon life signs...give her a shot of relaxants and plug her into a cool temperature blood return machine. She should be dead already from these readings..."

Hearing all of that only ensured it. Xhasca stood up from the chair and found herself as much space as she could between the medical staff to get a look at her. The white fur expanded along Naeya's skin, her body seemed to very slowly become smaller, her hair shorter and her face shifted shape to a more feline appearance. It was going very slow, but it were as if she were seeing ahead to what was happening. She saw that Naeya was becoming a white fur Mew.

As soon as she thought it had gotten to a point that she was going to reach out to Naeya, the medical staff stepped back and her eyes refocused and saw Naeya's body slowly returning to normal, and she was barely keeping herself conscious. She was moving her lips slowly and calmly, so Xhasca tried her best to read Naeya's lips.

 _Cold touch ability. Cold touch ability. Cold touch ability._

She said those words over and over, repeatedly until her temperature and pulse reached normal, and she hadn't received the medical attention.

"Your wife?"

The medical staff who asked that question was a tall older man close to where she stood watching.

"She is. The only person I've been able to fall in love with. Even if...she's a Pokemon."

"Well...that's going to be strange on the family registry. I didn't recognize what species she was transforming into, but you might want to be careful, champion. There's another gauge in the life signs that show body strength, and hers shot up to unknown immediately. Even the strongest Pangoro, even the strongest Haxorus doesn't come close to reaching the unknown strength. Whatever she is, she's...beyond our help. We didn't even get the chance to do anything aside checking her health signs before she started correcting it herself."

She nodded her head in understanding.

"Ah, can this...please stay in this room? Please, nobody talk about what you saw about her. If other people find out about this..."

The supportive elder of the emergency staff nodded his head and assured her. He would make sure none of the staff would talk about what happened in the room. After confirming they could stay in the room barred from outside interaction, Xharye stood up from her chair and walked up to the side opposite where Xhasca ended up standing, holding onto Naeya's hand.

"Explain. Now."

"When we got to the elevator and the door opened, we were immediately warped to another place, a dark storage room in a cult base. They have a disabling machine in the basement level hidden somewhere, so I wasn't able to get us out of there at all since my team uses mostly special type moves. Instead, Naeya showed how super smart she is and checked if Froakie and Honedge were able to use their moves inside of the disabled zone. Froakie proved to be unable to use any generative move, but Honedge could use its physical slashing moves. She felt at the walls for a hollow point and had Honedge use sacred sword to cut a door open for us through the wall. After that..."

Xhasca was growing more and more impatient as the answer was left incomplete. Her eyes were filled with desperation.

"...we made our way through the halls until we reached a break area. Naeya was about to have Honedge cause a distraction while we hide to get past them, but Froakie let out a pained croak because her jaw was still hurting from yesterday. That alerted the four cultists there. Naeya's immediate judgement was to fight alongside Honedge and fight in a way not to severely hurt them, but I made the suggestion that she was strong enough to stop Bouffalant yesterday, and that cut her reaction time short. She barely reacted on time to catch the first attack, a rolling kick from a Hitmonlee, and turned the attack into a body slam against the two nearer cultists. After that..."

Xharye explained everything. In as much detail as she could remember. Xhasca eventually calmed down when she heard how well Naeya handled everything despite being terrified of herself and confused, going by instinct. She was amazing. Naeya proved to Xhasca through Xharye's witness of the experience, that even without a fully trained team, she was more than capable of claiming the championship. She was scared herself though. Despite the confidence she had when she said it before, she was afraid about being in love with a Pokemon. Naeya identified as a human first and foremost, but maybe...that would end up being more dangerous for her. Denying what she is. It was only a maybe. Naeya was incredible, and quite possibly, she might be able to enjoy a perfectly normal challenge of the zones and a perfectly healthy relationship with Xhasca, which was what she, what they both desperately hoped for. Xharye was still struck by how crazy the day had been, and it was only just after noon.

Xhasca asked for Xharye to leave them alone, that she should check on her calls since the professor had asked about her before. Her time alone with Naeya, Xhasca wrapped her arms gently around Naeya's waist and snuggled her tight. She wanted to hold on to the Naeya that was in front of her for as long as she could remain that way. She loved Naeya either way, she was confident in that. What she was afraid of with the notion of her becoming completely a Pokemon, was that Naeya would resent what life for her had become. That she might resent Xhasca, Xharye, the whole region of Taffola. That she might despise becoming a Pokemon.

"I love you Naeya. No matter what happens."

Naeya turned her head to face Xhasca and gave a weak, but confident smile before saying.

"I love you too Xhasca. I might even love what's happening to me. I'm just...so scared right now. If I get stuck, add me to your team?"

Xhasca giggled lightly at the question Naeya asked at the end, but her serious expression toward the question quickly dispelled the light mood of Xhasca's laughter.

"You're never going to be just a member of my team. You're going to be my wife, regardless of Pokemon or not. No Pokeball, no leash, no chains, nothing to bind you. If such a thing happens, you can choose whether you fight in my battles or not."

Naeya smiled a much more cheerful smile as she heard how blessed she was to have Xhasca.

"Request...I want. I want to end the cult forever, in revenge for their murder of my parents."

Xhasca teared up and nodded her head.

"Of course. First thing we do if you get stuck as a Pokemon. Until then..."

Naeya smiled and turned her face to the ceiling.

"I'll challenge the league. I'll reach for you in my way."

Xhasca was about to argue there was no need to reach, that she would help Naeya along the way, but the determination in Naeya's eyes told her that Naeya would definitely make it through the league challenge and become the next champion, for Xhasca's sake.

Honedge and Froakie watched over them with seeming grinning expressions. They were happy at the feelings they felt in the room. Only good could come of the relationship they saw in front of them.


	10. Chapter 10

In the evening, Naeya woke to the scent of delicious tangy, sweet and salty foods, and the feel of heavenly comfort surrounding her. At first she thought she had been transported to the after life, but that was a silly notion from the start as she got poked in the forehead by Froakie.

"Wakey wakey for me? Hi Froakie."

Froakie smiled at her as she pushed herself up from the bed. The exhaustion from before, retaining her humanity was gone. She was at the peak of health, as if she received a max revive. And it worked. Honedge floated up in front of her and smiled in the way only it could...and others of the species.

"Thank goodness you're awake in time. Xharye mentioned how you're not used to food as nice as the restaurant upstairs, so I had the small kitchen set moved in here so I could make us dinner tonight. I was just finishing with the rest of the main course, and dessert is cooling in the fridge. You'll love me even more when you taste my cooking. Thank Xharye for this suggestion. Who knew one of my paths to your heart would be through food?"

The clack of full platter plates against a thin glass top table told Naeya that the dinner was ready for her to eat.

"Ah, Froakie and Horsea have already eaten. Honedge won't try anything except for the polish and cleaning bath for care. Oh, and your clothes are being fixed by the apartment staff since they were harmed a bit at the hospital. Hope you don't mind my night dress I put you in."

Naeya blushed and looked down on herself, finding that there was nothing to be embarrassed about as far as her appearance. She was however flustered over Xhasca having seen her completely naked. To avoid her mind going in perverted directions, she focused on the food and pushed herself out of the bed. Froakie stayed seated on the bed and watched on with Honedge as the pair of girls sat down to start eating the dinner together.

"About...what was said before I fell asleep at the hospital..."

"Every word. I promise every word."

Xhasca's expression was the most confident Naeya could remember her being. She smiled.

"I wonder which type zone I should challenge first..."

She was putting off eating the food despite how much her stomach and appetite protested. Her nose was so satisfied from the scents, she could just imagine how intense the tastes would be in her mouth.

"I thought water zone would be obvious with your Horsea and Froakie. Plus, I'm pretty sure at this point you could even use some water type attacks yourself."

As if to fuel the distraction from eating, Naeya focused and blew a little of the uncontainable energy in her into the form of a wave of small brittle bubbles.

"Water type huh...wonder how strong my hydro cannon would be after the aura sphere and hyper beams. If I was more like Honedge and Froakie, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest of those cultists and their Pokemon being dead."

The mood became sour for a second, but only for a second as Xhasca led the flow of dinner into eating the food in front of them. A flexible and cheese stuffed pasta with side of tang seasoned beef. The combination, Naeya easily had to admit was the greatest taste she knew. She became easily distracted by the taste, immersing herself in it as much as possible, only turning her attention briefly back to Xhasca between bites to remind herself the source of such delicious food. She was tempted to eat it quickly, but instead she found herself savouring each bite as if she might not eat that kind of food again for a long time.

"You're so cute when you're excited over your food. I'm really happy you like it so much. I'll make you food whenever you're sick of regular travel food. I'd happily make it all the time, but I'm letting you do your zone challenge. Oh, and make sure you save your appetite for dessert."

Naeya almost became speechless, like most Pokemon incapable of speaking human language in that moment over the excitement of the dessert promised after such an amazing dinner. She set down her fork, her stomach begging to have more, but also unsure it had the room to fit much more.

Xhasca giggled, watching over how cutely Naeya struggled with her appetite. The unsure expression she wore as if she was torn between stuffing herself, or holding back to enjoy the dessert as well. There was still plenty on the plate, so Xhasca stood up, walked over to the kitchen prepared for her and grabbed a travel container for her to put the food into. She sealed the leftover dinner in two containers, one from the leftover of her meal as well as Naeya's. She stacked the containers on a counter in the kitchen section and reached into the fridge, pulling out the dessert she had mentioned. A small tray of small creme and fruit tarts. When she placed the tray on the table between their seats, she watched as if Naeya had no self control, if she would dig right into the food placed in front of her.

Naeya stayed calm, almost as if she were monitoring herself with every bit of her being. To ensure she doesn't embarrass herself further. Xhasca couldn't help but enjoy watching her like that, took a tart from the tray and slowly enjoyed the sweet and slightly sour taste of the crab apple paste tart. Naeya had a difficult time holding herself back enough to copy Xhasca, taking a tart of the same kind. When she tasted the sour of the crab apple paste, her control was back, and her excitement for the rest of the dessert vanished. She pursed her lips as if the sour taste was painful.

"So sour...!"

Xhasca finished her tart and wiped her finger across where Naeya left crab apple paste on her lips. She licked the paste from he finger and smiled.

"I like sour tastes with sweet, especially in desserts. It helps sate craving for sweets. Some people like Xharye aren't fond of sour foods, I guess you share that with her. If you prefer not having sour, the red and blue paste tarts are more sweet and the sour taste isn't there. If you're in the mood for a little more."

Naeya kept a sour expression on her face, not from the taste still being in her mouth, but from learning one thing she didn't share in common with Xhasca. She reached out and grabbed a blue paste tart and slowly brought it to her mouth. Xhasca watched her keenly to see how she would react. Was it something to be nervous about, or was she just interested in the reaction like she had been for all of the food so far. As she bit through the shell of the tart, the sickly sweet taste of the contents of the shell spilled out onto her tongue and melted in her mouth in a much more satisfying way than the sour taste of the crab apple paste.

She sighed in satisfaction and relief that it was more enjoyable than the previous experience. The blueberry paste tart was delicious, she almost reached out to grab another tart, but her stomach finally decided it was full. Froakie and Honedge moved over when Xhasca beckoned Froakie over. She held out one of the sour tarts to Froakie and she grabbed the tart with her tongue, pulling it into her mouth and immediately regretting it. She had already swallowed it, but stuck out her tongue and was trying to rub the sour taste from it. She disliked sour just as much as Naeya.

Xhasca laughed at the over reaction Froakie had for the sour taste.

"Ah, while this is fun, I'm a little tired from everything today. Let's clean up the dishes and get to bed? You might want an early start tomorrow so we can get you to the water type zone sooner rather than later."

Naeya nodded her head, stood from the seat, grabbed up the empty dish which had filled both her stomach and a container Xhasca was packing for Naeya to take for next dinner. She was nervous. That she might gather attention from other people who might be nearby when she would eat the leftover food. She would have to be careful, and eat where nobody else would be watching.

The two brought their dinner dishes to the kitchen sink, and Naeya took the initiative to wash the dishes in the sink while Xhasca gathered up the rest of the dishes that needed to be washed and after the dishes were all ready to be washed, she moved to the other side and started drying the washed dishes so they could be moved to there spots in the kitchen set.

After the dishes were finished, Naeya finally noticed that it wasn't just Froakie and Honedge who were out in the open the entire time. On the other side of the room on the other side of the kitchen and the care station, all of Xhasca's main team that had been out the evening before slowly made their way over, probably after communicating between Xhasca and Gardevoir and Sylveon. That the dinner was finished and they could move to where they normally slept comfortably. Naeya hadn't really taken notice of all of the little things in the room. There were a lot of cushions laid out in many different places, places where Xhasca's Pokemon laid down and rested. Everything was quite cute in design, and Naeya finally realized just how pink and white the room was in following Xhasca's outfit colour theme.

When they finished cleaning up, just about to climb into the bed under the sheets, a ring tone sounded through the room telling them that someone was at the door.

"I'll get the door. Since you're in a night dress, it would be a little inappropriate for you to answer the door with me. And I don't want to show that much of you to other people. It should be quick."

She was reminded that she was wearing a rather thin night dress that while she was decently covered in her above perspective, it might be a little transparent, and possibly a focus of Xhasca's attention during dinner. She grew embarrassed and a little sour again that during all of that, Xhasca was still fully clothed in her regular outfit. When Xhasca was getting in the bed with her, she would wear an equal amount of clothing or else Naeya would continue to feel out of place with her.

Xhasca closed the door shortly after opening it, with a clear plastic package holding Naeya's outfit which had been ruined at the hospital. It was in perfect condition though, and Xhasca was smiling.

"They really work well down there in the tailoring department. Apparently they couldn't salvage what was ruined at the hospital, so they copied the original design and your measurements into this brand new version of the outfit. I also have to admit, your more pale complexion and white clothing with purple trim suits you way more than the rough clothing you wore yesterday. You looked super cute in these clothes."

She placed the package of clean clothes on a table near the bed where nothing else was sitting on top before making her way closer to the bed.

"I would feel more comfortable...if we were equally clothed."

Naeya blushed as she said the words, which apparently did something interesting in Xhasca's mind, because she just started pulling off piece after piece of her clothes until she was down to her underwear before climbing into the bed and hugging Naeya tight and wrapping her legs around her waist.

"Maybe not yet, but you're becoming more and more a Mew will eventually give us a chance to have babies of our own. I want to...practice until then."

She was breathing heavily as she said the words. She was doing as much as possible to convince Naeya to join her in a more full embrace. The evening definitely didn't end there for the two of them.


	11. Chapter 11

After an equally filling breakfast together to the dinner the night before, Xhasca retrieved a different Pokemon from her deep storage and replaced her Raichu temporarily. The two of them made their way out of the apartment building, and to a launch park where people who fly off on Pokemon which cause more air fluctuation in their flying are meant to launch. Xhasca called out the newly introduced Pokemon to Naeya instead of the fairy dragon of her team which might have been okay to fly them around. The Skarmory which bowed to Naeya upon meeting and received a gentle head rub from her cooed in response to the kindness she felt from Naeya.

"Sorry it's been so long Skarmory. I'll keep you with me for a while. I really should be cycling through all of you in storage often so none of you feel left out. Anyway, this is Naeya, my fiancee. Naeya, this is Skarmory, the third Pokemon to ever join me. She's been with me for twelve years now."

Naeya marvelled at how deep a bond might have formed over those twelve years, and what might have brought them together when Xhasca was only seven years of age.

"It's very nice to meet you Skarmory. I'd also like to introduce to you some of my other friends. Froakie here sitting on my shoulder joined me the afternoon before yesterday, and Honedge here saved me when I was little."

Froakie and Honedge seemed to have a little conversation with Skarmory, and eventually they were all happy and ready to go.

"Alright. Now, It's time to go see one of Xharye's zones. Do you remember where the water zone is Skarmory?"

Skarmory nodded her head and cooed in response. She bent down, ready to take Naeya and Xhasca on her back as well as Froakie and Honedge. Once they were all comfortably positioned on Skarmory's back, Skarmory took a few steps back so to get ready to launch all of them up into the sky. With Skarmory's strength and speed flying through the air, Naeya almost expected, she ended up hugging Xhasca's waist tight, while Honedge and Froakie were barely hanging onto her by the strap of her bag. She became thankful yet again at the bag, how high the quality of the material was that it could withstand such force in the situation they were in.

She almost didn't have the chance to admire the view from above they had, and when she was able to peel herself enough off of Xhasca, she looked down on the region. She could see the normal zone passing behind her so fast, she couldn't even make out the Pokemon on the ground. There were other zones she noticed, and thick forests between the zones as well as some lush roads filled with flowers on the sides instead of plain grass. It was beautiful, and she was becoming more and more eager to walk those paths and smell the nature of the region below them. There were plenty of small mountains through the region, more in what she guessed to be the rock type zone as well as the ground and steel type zones. Ahead of them to the north was a massive mountain though, which was heavily covered in snow, it made her realize how cold it was as high up as they were in the air.

Naeya realized with the experience that she wasn't afraid of heights.

While she looked ahead to the largest mountain, she was able to notice a large flock of dragons flying around. Noivern, Dragonite, Dragonaire, Salamence, Altaria...every flying dragon type were flying around the mountain, playing with each other or having a small airborne battle. As they grew nearer the mountain, Naeya was able to barely make out that the dragons who were fighting each other had trainers on their backs.

She noticed a trainer on another flying dragon approaching them, he was riding a Hydreigon...and he wore the cultist robe. Naeya finally had her bearings completely, and as soon as she noticed the Hydreigon readying to attack them, she readied a mirror coat around herself with the energy flowing through her. A pulse of dragon energy flew at them, and Naeya extended her mirror coat to catch the energy and return it back to the Hydreigon's trainer instead of the Hydreigon itself. From the height they were at, the fall would be lethal to the trainer if not severely hurt by the damage they took of the raw reflected attack on them. Hydreigon stopped going after the group on Skarmory and went down to capture the cultist who fell of of its back. Naeya knew it was the same Hydreigon and cultist she returned a hyper beam to the day before.

Xhasca seemed to be trying to convey her surprise at what just happened, but the speed they were travelling was too much for the words to get through. Instead of having her struggle with it, Naeya sighed and touched her forehead to the back of Xhasca's neck, reaching her mind to Xhasca's to hear her thoughts like psychic type Pokemon could do, like Gardevoir did and Sylveon did despite not being a psychic type. Xhasca was surprised at first having her mind touched by someone besides her Pokemon, but she returned the action by thinking the words she tried to shout through the air to Naeya.

 _I never thought we'd be attacked in the air. You protected us right? Incredible that you're so easily able to stop a Hydreigon...especially that one. That cultist has been a thorn in my side for a long time._

Naeya smiled and thought some words of her own toward Xhasca.

 _I returned a hyper beam to that same Hydreigon yesterday at the cultist base in the dark zone Xharye and I escaped from. Apparently the cultist lacks in the brainpower to avoid going after you. I'm sure a moonblast from your Gardevoir would be enough to knock out Hydreigon in a single attack after all. A cheap attack in mid air is just...disgusting. I'm glad the mirror coat worked the way it did. Normally Wobbuffet take those hits directly before returning the attack to their opponents._

Finally, they descended to the water zone. Skarmory slowed down just enough to not give the riders whiplash, landing just outside the gate of the water zone. While Xhasca gave the impression she would leave Naeya to experience most of the zone challenges on her own, after landing, she thanked Skarmory for the flight and returned her to the Pokeball she wore on her waist and walked with Naeya through the gate into the water type zone.

"They have a tournament today for championship of the zone, so I'm going to see about getting you in on it despite the rule of requiring at least one full evolution Pokemon during the zone championship challenges."

After Xhasca said it, Naeya became worried. Was she going to be showing it everywhere that she had extremely strong Pokemon strengths? She would rather experience her zone challenge as a trainer and not as one of her own Pokemon.

"Hey, did you know the region champion was going to be visiting today?"

A battle close by paused as they noticed the pair walking through the initial field where partial water types had their battles like normal on land. They were growing near to the massive lake where a lot of Pokemon were being trained and trainers battled their Pokemon.

"Not a clue...I wonder who the person with her is."

The conversations, even if they would normally be out of earshot reached Naeya and concerned her that they were getting so much attention. After about twenty minutes of it, not only was she even more nervous of talking to people when she would work at the zone normally, she was worried what kind of situation Xhasca was about to put her in with her zone challenge.

They arrived at an area where people and their Pokemon were being treated for injuries sustained during training, and there was a battle arena a little further ahead of the area they arrived.

"It's champion Xhasca! I wonder if she's here to battle with Xharye again during today's tournament..."

That comment got an immediate reaction out of Xhasca.

"Not a chance. I'm here with my fiancee Naeya to have her sign up for her challenge of the zone and see how she does with a run at the championship of the zone today. Where's the zone reception again?"

Apparently Xhasca didn't do well with crowds, because the way she said what she did caught a lot of unwanted attention, especially her mention of Naeya being her fiancee.

"They're wearing matching engagement bands!"

After that comment, Xhasca pulled Naeya away toward the battle zone where she finally saw the person she was looking for, the person who would file Naeya in for the zone challenge. When they reached the person in charge, and elder woman who looked surprisingly young for her age turned her attention to them and immediately welcomed Xhasca.

"It's been months since your last visit. Is your visit today for the tournament?"

Xhasca properly introduce Naeya to the receptionist.

"Actually, I'm here with Naeya to get her signed up for her zone challenge. I went and blabbed it to the others in the safe zone, so you'd hear it eventually, but Naeya and I are engaged. I was hoping she could join the championship run today. She only has two water types with her and neither are full evolutions, but she's personally very strong at fighting, so maybe either she could fill her third space personally, or would the zone be able to loan her a fill in for her team temporarily?"

The receptionist was a mix of reactions to everything Xhasca had to say. After it all, the thing she was most concerned with was how cute they looked as a couple with their matching engagement bands. She managed to catch herself and calm down enough to logically answer the question of how Naeya would be able to challenge the zone championship.

"Our rentals for the championship are all booked for today...how about we have a quick one on one battle between her alone and my Swampert? If she can handle the battle with Swampert well, she can participate in the tournament as she is. Are you certain she will be well enough to handle a battle like this since Pokemon are so powerful?"

Xhasca smiled wide and looked at Naeya for a reaction. Naeya was disappointed that it came to her fighting the battles herself, but she was confident in the strength ready to be unleashed.

"Alright. Make sure Swampert doesn't hold back against me."

The receptionist was surprised, but she opened the battle arena so that they could start the battle to test her ability against the Swampert she called out. The arena was a thin floating ring of waterproof metal held by rope to the outer edges of the ring, over a field of mostly water. Naeya hopped to the end she was designated for her side of the battle, and waited for Swampert to be called out.

A massive crowd of the water zone trainers and their Pokemon gathered in the seats around the battle ground and watched on as the battle prepared.

Xhasca acted as the referee of the fight, signalling for them to hold until she saw that both sides were ready to battle. When she got a nod of confirmation from Naeya and the zone receptionist, she smiled and shouted.

"Begin!"

Swampert dove into the water, swimming around to gather its advantage in the water over Naeya who needed air to breath. She gathered her energy to work the same as a water type, so that she would be able to function under water the same as Swampert. Then she stopped herself from diving into the water thinking about her outfit. She would much rather prefer to wear a wet suit when fighting a water battle. She readied herself and waited for Swampert to make the first attack.

"Swampert, use hydro pump to knock her into the water!"

The receptionist was decided on getting Naeya wet during the battle. Just barely in time, Naeya was able to dodge the attack and avoid getting wet, finding another good spot on the ring. She needed to be ready for the water, so she reached her energy to exchange the outfit she was wearing with the swimsuit in her bag and when she felt the air tickle her skin, her outfit being replaced, not only was the crowd roaring in surprise, she hopped into the water and grabbed at Swampert trying to swim away from her for an advantage. She let Swampert get ready, using the energy to steady herself in the water. She smiled when she noticed that the energy was working as well to keep her from needing the air outside of the water to breath.

She could barely make out the sound of the receptionist calling out for Swampert to use aqua jet attack, to which she readied herself to counter the attack. Swampert sped at her with frightening speed in the water, only to meet with her high sense of adaptability, swimming just enough out of the way to grab hold of Swampert's tail and bring him above water. Naeya grinned as Swampert became surprised as much as the spectators of the battle. Swampert was ready though. At the very next command, Swampert unleashed a powerful hydro pump at Naeya, to which she calmly danced out of the way and unleashed her own hydro pump from her left hand she extended.

That was where the spectators lost any composure they had left. Seeing a human unleash a hydro pump from their hand. Swampert was just as off guard to what he witnessed, taking the full brunt of the hydro pump to the chest, flying back to the stands. The battle was over.

The receptionist called Swampert back to his Pokeball and looked at Naeya with a dumfounded stare. The audience which gathered was still roaring with their disbelief at what they witnessed.

"Isn't Naeya amazing?"

Xhasca was barely calm, just as excited to see how amazing Naeya's ability was. From changing her outfit with psychic power, being able to condition herself for a water battle, and then unleashing a hydro pump were all simply too amazing. No other human could do that. Xhasca was proud of Naeya's ability, not afraid of it like she initially had been. The more her ability was complimented, the more Naeya warmed up to her ability to fight.

"Well, seems like Naeya's ready to join the championship today. We have to wait for Xharye to arrive before we begin, but I'm sure others are eager to get started right now..."

To which loud shouting directed at Xhasca was directed.

"You had her show her ability in public?! Are you _trying_ to get the cultists after her?! You should be more careful with her if you continue to claim you love her! Damn it sis...! Sometimes I really can't believe you!"

Xharye was furious at Xhasca for what she just witnessed. What Xhasca encouraged.

"Naeya is incredible though. Not only was she the full force of your escape yesterday, but she continues to show having a ridiculous amount of energy to spend. She stopped that pest Hydreigon member of the cult on the way here as they tried to attack us in mid air. We could have all been hurt, but she's ready at any moment, so why not let her ability out instead of trapping it?"

Xharye fumed instead of responding. She wanted to argue it, but she couldn't deny that what saved Naeya the day before was her own ability to fix herself. Naeya was...she wasn't a human or a Pokemon. She was something in between. Xharye had to admit that Naeya's energy needed to be used. Otherwise, it might go out of control and force her to take a full Pokemon appearance like she almost did with the fever she had the day before after stopping the use of the power.

"Fine. Naeya can join the tournament. She has to prioritize the use of her water type Pokemon though. She can only join battles herself if her Froakie and Horse are fainted. Those are my conditions for letting her join."

Everyone was excited for the tournament now except for Xharye. She knew that unless Naeya would exhaust herself, she would definitely win the zone championship.

So it began. Naeya was ready to fight the battles normally until Froakie and Horsea would be fainted. She hoped that the challenge would give her the chance to evolve one of them to their second stage. Meanwhile, everyone else was excited to see just how much they could push Naeya to use Pokemon attacks. Xhasca showed her pride in Naeya, while Xharye continued to feel worried for Naeya. Someone hidden plotted revenge from the shadows.


	12. Chapter 12

"Horsea, dodge the water gun and get underneath Ludicolo, use acid to finish him off!"

Naeya was performing so well with Horsea and Froakie, that after five battles, she had become dry. The battle with Swampert was a long time behind them, and the tournament was coming near to the end, the sun nearing ready for set.

Horsea performed the actions perfectly, spraying the acid at Ludicolo's back, knocking him into the water. Ludicolo was exhausted, and so floated in the water unconscious after the final attack. Horsea swam over to Naeya after the fight was over, shot up out of the water to Naeya's arms.

"You're doing so well today Horsea! Maybe we should set you up against an Octillery to have you learn octazooka to give you a more powerful attack."

"Well, Horsea will have that chance."

The next fight, as Naeya finally had the chance to fight twice in a row, was a person she learned through the day was just behind Xharye in battling ability. She had seen his team through the day, and was impressed at how well they worked together. Samurott, Octillery and Lanturn were a great trio, all fully evolved and were a major threat against those who didn't have their whole team fully evolved. Naeya was concerned that Horsea and Froakie wouldn't be able to handle the battle against him unless they evolved through the day.

"So I finally get to battle the champion's fiancee. Like you said about the fight with Swampert, I hope you don't hold back. I certainly won't. Why not toss the rule Xharye had for your other Pokemon to battle until fainted and you take on my whole team at once?"

Naeya shook her head and frowned at him.

"Do you really want to make her angry? I'd rather stay on her good side so she doesn't get between me and Xhasca."

He laughed and sighed.

"Darn, I was hoping to finally have you fighting again, but I guess I just have to make sure to knock your Horsea and Froakie out to get that chance at fighting you."

Naeya was getting very used to the idea that she might have to fight again, but she was having fun working with Horsea and Froakie. They were doing incredibly well, and were giving her the opportunity to feel like a trainer.

"Okay, break time's over. To your positions please."

The receptionist took her position as the regular referee of the match, and made sure the field was set for the battle. Naeya's opponent sent out Octillery first to fight with Horsea like he mentioned Horsea having the chance at. Horsea waited in the water for the battle to begin, and Octillery seemed ready to cheat, to dart out before the battle would begin.

The call for the beginning was made, and Octillery shot over.

"Octillery, create a smog in the water around Horsea with your acid attack. See if you can grab Horsea and throw her into the air."

Octillery tried following those orders, but before getting the chance to spray the acid smog in the water, Naeya had given a silent order through her psychic ability to plug Octillery's snout with her tail, followed by her own acid smog in Octillery's eyes. Octillery pulled Horsea out of his snout with one of his tentacles and threw her into the air like previously ordered, having a difficult time seeing. He tried to hit Horsea with a few octazooka in retaliation and without the orders of the other trainer. Horsea was missed by every attack, and as she readied herself to use a pin missile attack on Naeya's silent orders, her body glowed in the sign that she was finally evolving. The powered up pin missile Seadra unleashed on Octillery knocked it unconscious, earning a grunt of dissatisfaction from the other trainer.

"That was really good. Might want to switch up your lineup for Lanturn though. Seadra still doesn't have dragon typing after all."

Naeya grinned and after his warning of her switching to Froakie, she instead had Seadra swim through the battle field quickly, creating a few whirlpools to limit Lanturn's movement and draw electric attacks away from Seadra.

"Damn...you think of every strategy don't you? Doesn't matter, Lanturn, dash after Seadra with your spark attack!"

Seadra barely dodged the tackle of the spark attack, but felt enough of the electricity Lanturn coated itself in to become a little tired finally.

"Seadra, find a comfort point in your nearby whirlpool and fire an octazooka at Lanturn!"

Finally using a worded command, it was the sign that Naeya was making a deciding attack in the fight. Seadra followed the order perfectly, the powerful water current of the octazooka smashing hard against Lanturn's face, blinding it temporarily and knocking it out. Seadra was exhausted, so Naeya called her back to the ball.

"You did so good. Time to get a bit of rest, okay?"

She could hear the confirmation of Seadra from inside of the Pokeball before having Froakie get ready to face the Samurott which was summoned to the other side of the field. Samurott was the water type starter Pokemon for the Unova region, so she was reminded of Juez being in the hospital whenever she saw it. She frowned and Froakie responded with her confidence she could win the fight.

Shortly after, the battle begun. Samurott was fast. Incredibly fast. But it was also a weakness that Samurott wasn't able to manoeuvre well while moving quickly. Froakie had learned to use ice beam during an earlier battle against a Dewgong, so on order, Froakie froze a section of water Samurott was swimming toward, making Samurott have a painful head first collision with the block of ice formed there. In retaliation, Samurott was given the order to scald the water piping hot. Froakie wasn't fond of being hit by scald attacks, so she readied herself to fight on the ring at the surface. Samurott seemed ready to keep the battle in the water though, leaping over the ring in a way that Froakie had to be careful in dodging.

"Froakie, on the next leap at you, grab hold of Samurott's horn with your hands and direct him to hitting the ring. Follow that up with a direct ice beam."

Froakie croaked in joy, and it happened right away. Samurott shot up out of the water, giving barely enough room for Froakie to safely grab the horn and redirect Samurott into painfully striking the ring they were on, finishing Samurott with an ice beam which froze Samurott solid.

The battle was over, and as soon as Froakie landed on Naeya's shoulder, she began to glow the same was Horsea did when she evolved. Froakie hopped off of Naeya's shoulder, and the growth of the Frogadier she became, she knew she would unfortunately be too big now to ride Naeya's shoulder. She looked up at the space with a concern that her favourite spot was gone.

"Give it a try Frogadier. Better than just giving up on a spot you like."

As Frogadier started to hop up toward Naeya's shoulder with an expression of worry for how awkward it might be, Naeya stepped forward and caught Frogadier in her arm while dodging something thrown at her she sensed with her psychic ability. She looked to the water where the object landed and noticed a speciality Pokeball meant for catching fast Pokemon, a fast ball floating in the water. The person who threw the ball, was the person she fought her previous battle against.

"This is all a load of crap. How the heck does a brand new trainer beat someone who's been training their Pokemon for years?! Plus, you're not even really a human, are you?! You just look like one! You know what we do to a Pokemon that causes a lot of trouble? We catch them in a ball and destroy them inside the ball. You might have guessed already, but I'm one of the two cultists who killed your parents. Did you know? Your mother was never pregnant. One day after she decided she would stop fighting as part of Kalos' Elite Four, she noticed a baby in a blanket left in her fighting zone as part of the Elite Four, like some of those old sob stories. For weeks she tried finding the parents, and her husband decided that if your real parents never showed up, they would raise you as their own. You eventually took on their features. Like a Kecleon you changed your appearance to match with the most convenient truth for yourself as you grew up. You grew up under the delusion you're a human, but you're really just a Pokemon who finally couldn't hold back the years of power you've been storing. I really wanted to stay back a little longer on Xhova and kill you myself then, but the orders were only the parents of the foreigners to the land. Now the orders I have are to eliminate anyone who might get in the way of our waking of Vescalla. You and the champion family here are my targets today. None of you are leaving here alive."

He pulled a Pokeball from a waist bag he hadn't touched the entire day and called out the familiar Hydreigon Naeya had already defeated before. Xhasca ran up beside Naeya and so did Xharye, hearing that not only was Naeya already in danger from the cult, but so were they.

"You really...should have kept my history to yourself. You must not know how to talk to others well. You're just full of anger and an inferiority complex. Kill anyone stronger than you so they aren't in your way. I can feel all of that from the words you said. The one thing you did get right, is I'm like a Pokemon. I can use psychic energies to listen to thoughts and intents in a person, which is what made my battles go so well today. Telling my history only makes me want revenge for my parents even more. The one who won't leave here alive today is you."

Xhasca and Xharye were gently pushed back from her as Naeya surrounded herself in the energy pushing out of her. She walked toward the cultist slow and her expression became more and more like a beast ready to rip apart a hated rival. She lashed out and before Hydreigon had a chance to attack her, she grabbed it by the tail and slammed it against the water hard enough it was knocked out. Next, she used extreme speed to put herself behind the cultist, and she stopped herself short of a strike that would kill him, slamming her right hand against the base of his spine in a force palm attack. The crunching sound of his lower spine being crushed told everyone watching that he would never walk again for the rest of his life.

"Please...take him away from me before the energy takes over me and finishes him off."

Xhasca and Xharye hurried to her and tried their best to calm Naeya down. Frogadier and Honedge were concerned over her condition to the point that Naeya felt guilty. The cultist she disabled for life was dragged off by the receptionist and a few other trainers.

"Break his Hydreigon's Pokeball. Set all his Pokemon free."

After Xharye gave those commands to the people of the zone, she put all of her attention toward calming Naeya. They could feel the energy pushing them away, but Naeya was slowly calming down after getting a taste of the revenge she aimed for since leaving Xhova.

Eventually, police arrived and were shocked by how badly injured the cultist was. They took him away to get locked up, and the mood of the tournament went silent.

Honedge seemed particularly upset at the situation, and rested its body against Naeya's torso. The overflowing energy Naeya had in her flowed to Honedge, making it glow to start its first evolution. Maybe their contact with her was what was making the evolutions as fast as they were. Horsea had plenty of contact with Naeya during the tournament as well, so all of them had a lot of chance to grow from the energy flowing out from her. It was like her human life was already over to her. It ended as soon as the energy started flowing from her.

The Doublade which resulted from Honedge evolving continued to stay close to her, wrapping the sash of both swords it became around her waist in a full hug Honedge wasn't capable of.

"I'm...fine. Let's finish up this tournament. I don't want to end today on such a bad note. Are you ready Xharye?"

As soon as Naeya started saying those words, Xharye and Xhasca were about to argue that Naeya should rest after everything through the day, but hearing that Naeya wanted to finish the day on a better note, they couldn't think of anything better than a good difficult battle to distract their minds from what happened just before.

"I'm ready Naeya. Let's make this a region championship level battle. You can use Doublade as well, and we'll limit the Pokemon cap to four Pokemon regardless of type. This match won't result in a water zone champion crowning if you win. I want you to win the zone championship fair later after all. You being involved in the battle would be like letting a legend be part of it, so that will make up for me using a team of full evolutions. We'll drop my rule of your Pokemon needing to be fainted before you can join, so you decide how to fight this battle against me. I would normally say not to hold back, but we need to be sure we don't seriously injure each other."

Naeya nodded her head and positioned herself on one end of the battle arena while Xharye readied herself. The crowd returned to their seats and Xhasca gave Naeya a kiss before letting the battle go.

"If you lose the battle, I'm staying with you on your entire zone challenge. Not saying you should lose intentionally, but I'd be kissing you a lot while we journey around the region together. A little taste of what losing means. For me, the loss would be a win. I hope you see it that way too."

Naeya became dizzy from the sudden sensation. It were as if the energy spiked when she was kissed. It made the energy ready to be unleashed at full force like the aura sphere which tore an opening in a cliff and through the forest of the dark type zone.

As much as she craved feeling the spoiled nature of having Xhasca along on her journey, the energy wasn't having it. The battle was over so quickly, everyone but her was surprised. Xhasca and Xharye were surprised beyond belief that Naeya went that fast.

"Want a normal journey that much?"

Naeya scratched the back of her neck lightly in embarrassment.

"Your kiss made the energy go crazy. I couldn't help it. I almost think it would be too dangerous to have you giving me boosts like that all the time. Sorry, a normal journey sounds healthier. For us and for any opponents I might face."

Naeya randomly remembered that she wanted to see Juez before they even left the city in the morning.

"I'd like to start my journey normally at the normal zone from the city and make my way from there. Also, I want to see how Juez is doing. I want to make sure he's doing okay. Heck, my ability might be able to fix the damage he suffered in the incident before. He deserves to start his journey on a good note. Maybe I could help him catch his female Ralts."

Xhasca seemed to have a slightly betrayed expression on her face.

"Oh, I see...so it's okay to journey with him but it isn't okay to journey with me? I see how it is."

She was only joking, but Naeya was worried about Xhasca really taking it that way. The good mood of the end of the tournament accompanied them back home. The next day, Naeya was certain she would make right her friendships she had before arriving in Taffola. She didn't arrive in the region alone. She arrived with friends. People she was fond with aside the one who was now in prison. She wanted to see the egg with Juez' first Pokemon hatch. To catch up with Yuuka a little before setting off. To make sure her life as a human wasn't over.


	13. Chapter 13

Naeya was nervous to see the person on the other side of the door. Not in a sense of danger, but in a sense of concern. Had he recovered much since the incident which injured him? Had he even woken up since then? She was afraid that he might not be the same person she grew up with as friends.

Xhasca had left for other work right after breakfast, so Naeya was on her own for the visit with him, and she would be on her own for the rest of the day. She finally had the opportunity to start her journey at the end of the day, but she felt that the comfort of being able to return to the comfortable apartment with Xhasca every night would keep her returning instead of making real progress with her challenge of the zones.

She reached out her hand and grabbed the handle of the door, taking a deep breath before finally twisting the handle and pushing the door open. The room was filled with the disgusting smell of human medicines she was very sensitive to. The scent was almost as painful as a Muk. She braced herself and applied a defog attack effect to the air directly around her to keep the scent away. With a sigh of relief to have fresh air in the disgusting scented environment, she opened the door the rest of the way and noticed that the room was quiet. Juez was laying on the bed, his face pointed away toward the windows on the other side of his bed. The egg he found in the basement of his family's home was perched on the bedside table stationed between them. She couldn't tell if he was asleep or awake. He was definitely quiet. That was almost what frightened her most.

Was he breathing? Was he alive? Of course the hospital wouldn't keep a patient past their death, so he must be alive, but the level of silence was worrying. Naeya closed the door behind her quietly and made her way to a chair perched beside the bed on the same side as the door.

"Good morning Juez."

He was startled, snapping his attention to her with a shocked expression on his face.

"Oh no, is this supposed to be the afterlife or something? There's no way you would visit me..."

Naeya sighed after receiving the shock of his startled reaction to her and she smiled at him.

"Nope, not the afterlife. Though that might explain the crazy stuff I've been experiencing..."

He sighed in relief when she said it. Only the two of them had the quick response conversations with each other. Yuuka had a habit of being too nervous to contribute to conversation, while Tresk would completely take over a conversation. Naeya and Juez were able to have decent conversations better than with anyone else. At least, that was before Naeya met Xhasca and Xharye.

"How are you doing Juez? Have they told you what your condition is like?"

Doublade rattled a little on Naeya's back to remind her that Naeya wasn't alone. Frogadier was also with them, and had moved stealthily up to her lap when she sat beside the bed in the chair.

"I...my ribs are too damaged for me to get out of here for at least two months, and one of my lungs was burst with my ribs taking the attack. They tried everything, even having powerful Pokemon staff using moves like heal pulse on me to try and reverse the damage, but nothing. They've told me that I'll never get the chance to journey as a normal trainer doing the zone challenge."

Naeya felt depressed hearing what kind of explanation he had to settle with for his fate. She had a feeling she could change it though. As soon as she finished listening to his explanation, she reached out and grabbed his hand closer to her, reaching out her energy so that it could tell her what it could do for him. It didn't take long for the energy conveyed to her that it could heal him completely, to which she smiled in relief.

"It'll be fine. Now...tell me your opinion on the topic Xharye brought up about you. I just want to make sure I understand one of my best friends as much as possible before taking you along with me on the beginning of our journey."

Juez wore a confused expression, but as she held her question to him, he realized he needed to answer the question.

"Well...Xharye is wrong and a little right about what she said about me. I don't really see myself as male, but I don't really identify as in between either, as in what she said as gender neutral. If I feel like I had to say which gender identity matches my mind most, I'd have to say female. Like you. Yuuka was a little too much on the timid side for me to compare myself with her, but this view on myself is after all the time I spent with you while growing up. I feel like you'd be a sister to me. After everything that happened, it might be nice to call us a family of siblings. We don't have blood siblings after all."

Naeya smiled and nodded her head in understanding.

"What would you say if...you had the chance to really become a girl? To be healed from your current condition completely and be nearly as good as new?"

Juez looked at her as if she was spouting the most ridiculous possibility ever. Not only was something like that impossible for humans, but it was Naeya, a girl who was like a sister for their childhood. She had been the mostly quiet type, and only really fuelled Juez' desire to be like her, comfortable in the body born in.

"Well, as a hypothetical answer to that impossibility, I'd be excited for the opportunity to be a girl for real. Seriously though, why are you asking?"

Naeya reached out and grabbed Juez' wrist again and reached the energy around the entire body, through it and started changing the form with a forced transform ability. After five minutes of forced silence as Juez' body underwent incredible changes. Naeya sighed in slight exhaustion after rendering Juez' appearance to being a literal female version of the body they were born in, only a little taller than Naeya after the change. She also fixed the broken bones and made them smaller and more sturdy so they could withstand such a hit better if it were to happen another time. To regenerate the lung which was burst. All cuts scratches and bruises vanished.

"Wh-what the...!"

Juez was able to move like normal. She moved her body around as if there had never been any damage to her chest, to her spine which Naeya had found and fixed during the change. She gasped for a while, between trying to speak as her returned lung filled up with air.

"While this isn't the afterlife, there are some crazy things that have happened ever since Tresk pulled that on you. Now he's serving a prison sentence of two years for the damage he caused you, I have a couple more Pokemon with me and they've all evolved once, I found out I'm not normal in good ways. I met the champion of the region and we've fallen in love with each other. She's Xharye's older sister. She kept on insisting that she go with me on my journey, but realistically it's a little ridiculous for the champion to busy themselves with something that distracts from their duties as champion. Oh, and I was captured with Xharye when she was a target of abduction by the cult that led us here. Ah, and the final icing. The way me and Xharye escaped was that a ridiculous amount of energy has been flowing through me ever since the escape, which I was able to use to fight back against the cult's Pokemon and people. Let's just say, apparently I'm part Pokemon?"

Juez seemed dizzy from all the information she dropped on her.

"Oh, and I just used that energy that's always practically begging to be used in order to fix all of your injuries and change your body to be completely female. You're welcome."

Juez hopped out of the bed and pulled Naeya up into a hug.

"I...thank you. So much."

Juez was crying from the happiness she was feeling, and Naeya felt happy that she could enjoy the feelings her best friend felt.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, I made your hair a little longer too. Something for you to play with if you were hoping to do more with your hair than the usual short tails you used to wear your hair in."

Juez just laughed at that part. She smiled at Naeya when she let go, turned her around and had a good look at Doublade.

"Honedge evolved already?"

"Side effect of the energy pouring out of me. So did Froakie who I recruited at the beach when looking for a Horsea. My current Pokemon team is Doublade, Frogadier and Seadra. And apparently myself with my challenge of the water zone yesterday. Oh, and I crippled one of the guys who killed our families yesterday when he tried putting me in a Pokeball. He's unable to move at all and being thrown in prison. His own fault for trying to kill me Xharye and Xhasca in front of the other people of the water type zone."

Juez stepped back and looked at Naeya, surprised to see how composed she was through what she just said. She shook her head in disbelief and sighed.

"Well, if I'm all healed up like you said, let's call in a nurse to check me over so I can get discharged from the hospital. Then we can go and meet up with Yuuka. I'm sure she'll be surprised to see me like this. I'm also...feeling a little awkward now that I think of my situation. I still have my male name despite having a female body. Stop by the city hall and get my name changed?"

Naeya was reminded that Xharye had a normal day at new trainer registration again, and that would be where the kind of business would be handled. Xharye would be freaking out. Again.

"Sure. Now, press that call button so we can hurry the day along. Yuuka would be in the normal zone unless she's been doing other things than caring for her Teddiursa. Zone operations shut down at eight in the evening, so we'd better head there before then."

After Juez pressed the button, she stared at Naeya with a curious expression on her face.

"How are you so far ahead already?"

"Why don't we speed along your egg to hatch with my energy so you can have your first Pokemon already? I figure it's pretty obvious considering the pattern on the shell, but if you're still waiting for the egg to hatch to know what kind of Pokemon is inside, let's hatch it."

While they waited for the nurse to arrive, Juez struggled to make the decision of having Naeya hatch the egg with her energy while Juez held onto the egg. The primarily canary yellow colour egg with black triangles told Naeya an obvious story what kind of Pokemon was inside, and when the Pokemon inside started breaking the egg open with the energy it was receiving, she wasn't surprised at all to see the Pichu peek its head out of the opening in the shell. Just in time for the nurse to arrive.

"Wasn't this...isn't this Juez' room?"

"Yes, that's me. My friend here Naeya fixed me up so we're just getting me checked over so I can get out. And my new little buddy Pichu just decided to hatch."

That quick and easy explanation seemed to puzzle the nurse even more. When she checked over Juez' vital signs and where there was damage, all clear, followed by a confirming blood test it was the same person she grew more and more confused.

"Yes, it's really me. I'm just as surprised as you that Naeya was able to fix me up, but she fixed up my broken ribs and ruined lung and my trouble with moving. She also made me female since, well, I've always wanted to be sisters with her."

Any thought of protecting Naeya's identity as part Pokemon was gone. She didn't mind if the entire region knew she was part Pokemon. As long as she could experience being a trainer long enough to be satisfied.

"Right...well, your condition checks out perfectly. All sign of injury is gone. I'd prefer getting an internal scan done before sending you off, but we've had word pass through that any information regarding the champion's fiancee be kept confidential. Please, take care of yourselves."

She left the room and moved on to the rest of her duties, completely flustered by what she was connected to. Impossible injuries to heal were healed in seconds, and the body was changed at the same time from male to female. All that happened in the short five minutes since letting Naeya into the ward and telling her which room belonged to Juez.

"Well, let's get out of here then. I'm sure you want to get your name changed as soon as possible."

After Naeya said it, Juez nodded her head quickly, following close behind her as they left the hospital room, only to see the nurse writing down the check out form for Juez' file. The others at the nurse station all wore confused expressions at the sight they saw. The patient who had a Pichu egg instead holding a Pichu, shorter and female instead of the male patient they had checked in. The patient who should never be able to walk for the rest of their life walking normally on their feet as if nothing had happened to them. Like some kind of miracle or bad joke.

Outside of the hospital, Naeya dropped the energy which blocked off her sense of smell from the disgusting air of the hospital and took a deep breath of the fresh air.

"This air tastes way better than that disgusting hospital stuff. I bet this feels really good for you, right Juez?"

Juez poked Naeya in the shoulder and grinned.

"Not Juez anymore. We are going to get me some new clothes to wear and get my name changed. I'm Juieh now. So that I can get used to it before we have it changed at the city hall."

Naeya smiled and repeated it in her head a few times before saying her new name with her voice. Which reminded her that she was satisfied with how well Juieh's voice changed with the transformation.

"And you could at least tell me what you think of the change to your voice. Don't you like it Juieh?"

They teased each other poking at each other like they used to back on Xhova when Juieh was talking about a person she liked.

"I really do like my voice change. Thank you. Also, I'd like to know a little bit more. About your relationship with the champion. Didn't that nurse call you her fiancee? You're in a girl only relationship with her?"

"Well, my gender is kind of ambiguous with my being part Pokemon, especially being the type I am. Apparently my body when it was forcing transformation was becoming a white fur Mew. Meaning I'd be a Pokemon with no gender which can mate with any Pokemon of any gender. Or in this case with my fiancee, the champion of the region. You should meet Xhasca before we head out for our zone challenge. She's incredible."

Juieh seemed jealous of how well things were going for Naeya, but ended up just expressing pride that the person she considered her sister was happily in love with a person who was providing a good relationship.

"I'll look forward to meeting her. Now, let's go get me some clothes. Help me pick out something that suits me. You know what my favourite colour is."

Naeya nodded her head, and led the way to the market place. Juieh was in the hospital during the time Naeya and Yuuka went to the market place with Xharye for the city tour, so now it was Naeya's turn to show the way through the city. From the hospital, the market was two streets forward, and south toward the harbour, finally becoming the market on the intersecting street two alleys from the harbour section. There, Naeya pointed out which stalls sold what, and she picked out a few pieces of clothing for Juieh. They next stopped in at the mart, where on the first floor she provided Juieh with starter potions and Pokeballs which she put in her bag temporarily because she intended to replace the bag with the stock on the upper floors of the store. She also filled up her bag with the snack foods for travelling on the first floor before they headed up.

When they reached the third floor where fashion items began showing up along with super training items, Juieh became excited and absorbed in the different outfits and bags she noticed. She ended up trying on a lot of different outfits, but only stuck to the outfits Naeya suggested. Juieh ended her clothes shopping wearing out an outfit of warm red with black trim. She had a black bag of similar make as Naeya's bag the best quality she could afford, and she bought compressors for the clothes so that she could carry as much as possible in the bag. She loved feeling the more comfortable and form fitting clothes she wore, complaining that Naeya had the opportunity to wear such clothes her whole life, while she only just had the opportunity to finally wear them.

Juieh was finally comfortable, and Naeya was happy that their situation was less awkward with her out of the medical gown. As soon as they were done with the shopping they did, they made their way to the restaurant at the top of the apartment complex where Xhasca's living space was. Juieh was baffled at the view they had in the restaurant, and that they received their food for free with Naeya's position as fiancee of the champion.

Pichu was finally demanding some attention of them, and was given the opportunity to eat some of the safe foods for Pokemon to eat from their plates. Frogadier had a little as well, and Seadra had a little. Naeya's team of Pokemon were still a little full from breakfast, but they wouldn't turn down food. It was lunch time, and while humans were more used to eating three meals a day, Pokemon often had a different kind of appetite. Some had overwhelming appetites, while others had near non-existent appetites. Doublade didn't need to eat at all, but it was due to the different nature it had compared to others of the species. Even Naeya's appetite was shrinking considerably the more she was overwhelmed with the energy her body was creating.

"You're eating a lot less than usual...is it because of...that?"

Juieh at least got the sense right that it was something she shouldn't talk about so openly while Naeya and others seemed to already throw their caution of the situation to the wind. Xharye was still being more cautious, but she was steadily becoming more and more convinced Naeya could handle herself as far as the cultists going after her. Xharye suggested having a Pokeball capture canceller strapped to her like in some safari zones. That was something Naeya considered as a good option so she wouldn't have to worry about those idiots throwing Pokeballs at her and having to fight her way out every time she wasn't nimble enough to dodge them. The idea of being stuck in a Pokeball...as much as she was certain Seadra was happy in hers, Naeya couldn't imagine feeling well in a Pokeball, especially growing up as a person who would eventually use those on Pokemon.

She was about to bring up her distaste of having Pokeballs thrown at her, then she felt eyes on them, an unfamiliar face walked in through the elevator and stared at them with a dark expression in their eyes. When she pried her energy at the person's thoughts, she could feel their intent of causing trouble. That they intended to start a battle with her, and while distracted with the battle, throw Pokeballs at her. They were a cultist. They were more experienced and more professional about their business than the other who threw Pokeballs at her the day before. When he called a Houndoom out and started the fight without warning, Naeya performed a quick guard move and formed a reflect screen around the cultist and the Houndoom. The flamethrower attack was absorbed into Naeya's field of energy with the quick guard, and the reflect screen squeezed the cultist and the Houndoom together.

"This really...is not the place to start a battle."

Staff from the kitchen rushed out and had restraining tools to capture the cultist.

"Like Xharye ordered at the water zone tournament yesterday, release this cultist's Pokemon and destroy the empty Pokeballs. Please call for authorities to pick him up."

The kitchen staff nodded in response to Naeya's authority. They already knew well her position in the apartment complex, and they treated listening to her like listening to Xharye or Xhasca. Shortly, police arrived and took away the cultist and brought the released Pokemon out of the building at the same time. They waited at the elevator door for the machine to return to pick them up.

"You really are... Amazing. I shouldn't be surprised any more after the things you did to help me, but seeing you use Pokemon battle moves and fighting the cultist like that was crazy. You even absorbed a flamethrower. That's...I've never even heard of Pokemon absorbing the attacks of others unless it was something like mirror coat."

Naeya smiled at Juieh until she suddenly felt a small orb object enter her senses thrown at her from behind. When the object made contact with her right hip, it flashed and covered her in red before enlarging and pulling her in to the Pokeball. She only had to struggle a little, but the cramped space of the Pokeball she was nearly captured in shattered when she broke out of the ball. She shot a glare at the cultist who was still being held onto by the police. He had another small version Pokeball capsule in his hand and was about to throw it at her until she grabbed his hand and the ball with her hold of the energy and crushed them. He screamed in response to his hand being crushed, but he wasn't trying any further at putting her in a Pokeball.

"Heh...at least now...we know you can be caught in a Pokeball..."

He squirmed to free his hand that was no longer bound with the loss of his other hand, and five more Pokeballs fell out of his sleeve, he shook himself out of the hold of the police, and barely had the chance to throw all of the Pokeballs from his sleeve at Naeya. She crushed all of them before they could get close.

Well, that answered whether she should wear a capture device canceller. She definitely would after feeling the cramped space for even a second. She knew how it felt, and it made her feel worse about Seadra being stuck inside one of them. It wasn't dark and depressing like she imagined, but the device was difficult to get out of if not running at full strength, and it was like being trapped in an invisible prison. She felt a lot of sympathy for the Pokemon who struggled away from being in Pokeballs. Trainers would continue to weaken and exhaust Pokemon while throwing Pokeballs at them until finally the Pokemon was too exhausted to fight back. There were the nice occurrences like with Seadra and Frogadier, that they wanted to be in the Pokeball, but she couldn't imagine Seadra who actually experienced it to really enjoy the experience. Maybe seeing the journey through the sphere wasn't so bad, especially for a Pokemon who needed to live in water otherwise, but outside of that, being shrunk down to fit in the small capture device wasn't a pleasant experience at all for Naeya.

"That was terrifying! You actually...you actually disappeared into the Pokeball for a second. That's..."

"It's alright. I don't like the inside of a Pokeball personally, but Xharye already mentioned that she would get me a capture canceller to wear. Well, now we know I'll need it with the cultists trying to capture me in a Pokeball. It's almost better we found out now before going to see Xharye when we see her about your name change. It's almost convenient. I am curious though...maybe other Pokeballs are different or more comfortable inside..."

When Naeya mentioned the possibility of some variants of Pokeballs being comfortable inside, Juieh was less supportive of the thought of her being captured in a Pokeball. Especially by the people of the cult. Those people were worse than monsters with how they were treating them. After killing their families, they were attacking Naeya and trying to force her into a Pokeball. They were making her life painfully cautious of how she handles herself. They made the lives of the whole group from Xhova a forced journey on the note of losing their families.

Pichu noticed the mood as much as Frogadier and Doublade, and they moved to support Naeya in her discomfort at nearly being trapped in a Pokeball. Naeya was surprised Pichu was also joining in, and it made her happy the nearly newborn Pokemon was already acting so mature.

Naeya was being proven that sometimes, Pokemon were far more mature than humans.


	14. Chapter 14

Naeya sighed as they approached the city hall yet again, this time to see Xharye about two subjects. Juieh's name change from Juez, and Naeya accepting having a capture cancelling device strapped to her body so she would be able to ignore having Pokeballs being thrown at her without the worry of getting stuck in one. It would still be irritating to have them pelting her, but it would be better.

The group walked into the city hall, Juieh holding onto Pichu in her arms, Naeya holding Frogadier the same way, and Doublade hanging on her back. They earned stares as they walked in, but mostly because it seemed everyone was in the know about Naeya's situation and position. Everyone was giving away that they were being considerate, and when they made it to Xharye's desk and she noticed attention was focused near her, she slowly peeked her head up.

"Ah! Naeya, how was your visit with Juez?"

Juieh giggled when she heard Xharye refer to her that way when she was right there.

"It's sad that he took so much damage in the aura sphere, I hope he'll get better enough to experience being a trainer."

Juieh put her trainer card she had received from Xharye on the counter and said the words.

"Name change please."

Xharye looked at Juieh with surprise at the interruption in conversation with Naeya, but Naeya motioned that she should deal with the other person she was with. When Xharye noticed Juieh holding onto the Pichu, she stood up in her chair and nearly screamed at how she was excited, but she took a deep breath and sat back down.

"How...?"

She seemed more to ask Naeya the question because there was only one person who could be the cause of the unbelievable sight in front of her. She knew for certain it would be Juez/Juieh holding the Pichu after the egg would hatch, so somehow when she wasn't around to witness, Naeya did another crazy thing and somehow changed Juez' body to be female.

"Forced transform. If I do it to another person, they don't return to their previous body unless I return them to it. This energy is really crazy. Even sped up Pichu hatching from the egg. Oh, and I'll be accepting the offer for me to wear a capture canceller. Almost got stuck in a cultist Pokeball in the restaurant of the apartment building making sure Juieh was well fed."

Xharye shook her head and looked down at the keyboard under her.

"I'm pretty sure even normal Mew don't have nearly the same ability you're using. Just, surprise after surprise with you. My first surprise from you was the friendship with Honedge who is now a Doublade already. It's been nothing but surprises from you since then, including your closeness with sis. I can't believe she already got the two of you matching engagement bands...she has no sense of timing or patience. Hopefully you have the patience to handle her."

Juieh was surprised to hear it from Xharye. That Naeya really was in a...much heavier relationship than led on before. With the champion of the region.

"Anyway, I think I heard her right in that Naeya said your new name is Juieh? What was the inspiration?"

Juieh blushed a little before answering.

"Actually, my parents called me that when I was little and they played with me as if I was born their daughter instead of how they ended up raising me. So, in a way I'm already used to being called by my new name, and it's not really new. It's kind of my original name."

Xharye looked at her with a happy expression that was mixed with surprise.

"That's really cute! Okay, just change this really quick...and Porygon will take a new picture of you...there. New trainer card printed."

"After this, I'm going to take Juieh out to find her first female Ralts. It'll be easier to find her Ralts with a Pokedex, so is there a chance we could meet with the region's lead professor about getting getting our own dexes?"

Xharye seemed ready to leave her post again to take them out and find Juieh's Ralts, but when she was reminded they hadn't received their own Pokedex like most trainers would start with, she sighed and pushed her chair back before she gave them an expression of apprehension. She continued to the back room and shortly after going back there, she returned with an elder woman who gave the sense she was even more deceiving of age than the receptionist at the water type zone. Naeya was surprised at the age of the person on the other side of the counter with Xharye. She could feel the age in the energy as she reached out to understand the other person a little before starting a conversation.

"Two new trainers? Well, have you given them their region exclusive Pokemon yet?"

Xharye sighed, giving Naeya a look that this was how the professor usually was, not as observant as a professor would be expected to be.

"Professor, Naeya already has three Pokemon with her, and Juieh has a Pichu, but Naeya will be helping her find a Ralts. You were busy the other day, so they couldn't get a Pokedex from you then. Could they get Pokedex to bring on their journey and continue to help provide information for your studies like the rest of us trainers?"

The professor seemed to pay as much attention as possible to Xharye's words, but her mind was rattled. Naeya reached her energy in and calmed the thoughts in her head, reminding her of the words which were just said to her in as clear a way as possible.

"Ah, some promising new trainers then. Of course, of course. Let me get back to my office and grab each of you a Pokedex. The more information the better. Some day. Some day, we'll figure out everything about Pokemon, and their connections with humans."

She was a lot more organized with her movements and thoughts after Naeya did a little work with the energy. She felt like she might have meddled where it wasn't needed, but seeing the relieved expression replace the confused and strained expression of deep thought ensured what she did was the right thing.

"I haven't felt this clear in decades. Xharye, could you bring your Pokedex so I can import the data from yours to theirs? So they know where to look for Pokemon you encountered on your adventure. It would help them with their zone challenges and they would know of other places to look for Pokemon where your Pokedex doesn't include information, perhaps find rare Pokemon you might have missed. My goodness this clarity of mind is relieving. I swear it's almost as if someone dislodged a Garbodor from my brain."

Xharye looked at Naeya with surprise yet again, shook her head and pulled her Pokedex from her bag before going to the back room originally assumed as the manager's room on the main floor of the city hall. A few seconds passed of Naeya and Juieh waiting, and they were answered with the professor looking even younger and more chipper in their expression than before, excited to hand over the copied Pokedex from Xharye's dex information. It would certainly make it easier for them to look for a Ralts for Juieh.

"Now, this current model is one that was refined by a fine young professor from the Kanto region, the grandson of the original inventor of the Pokedex. This Pokedex has all the function of a Pokegear built into it, as well as the camera function of the Pokefinder app on phones commonly mistaken as item finder app. These all working together give you the opportunity to record and share all of the information you find directly to my information system here, and I'm able to process it to my information on the specific study relating humans to Pokemon. My original goal was to see if humans could function as Pokemon, or if Pokemon could become as humans, but after all of these years my research hasn't turned up much information at all. I have a feeling Vescalla, the legendary of the region might be tied into such a connection, but that information won't be shared with me by Xharye and her sister despite their other help at filling information for the Pokedex. I also have a feeling that the earlier dubbed "Genetic Pokemon", Mew, is able to connect the space between human and Pokemon. Imagine, some day, we could have Pokemon carrying us around in Pokeballs and having grand adventures. Wouldn't that be incredible?"

Naeya...was nervous about recording herself into the Pokedex with that kind of ambition behind the professor's goal, although she felt bad about unveiling that part of her mind so easily. She felt...that while there were downsides, the blissful happiness the professor wore on her face told Naeya she did the right thing for her. Maybe she could lightly let the professor know about her condition instead of broadcasting the information to her through the powerful Pokedex her and Juieh received from the professor.

The elder woman returned to her room at the back with so much energy and vigour, one might mistake her for really being decades younger.

"I've...I haven't seen Professor Spenleaf that energetic since she gave me my first Pokemon and Pokedex. Even then, her mind wasn't clear enough to give her spiel like most professors about their goal in gathering information through the Pokedex. What did you do to her Naeya?"

Naeya almost didn't understand how so little could clear up so much of the old woman's mind. Lightly organizing her mind and clearing the cluttered thoughts so they would be easier accessible seemed like a natural thing to do. Only else she did was to remind her what Xharye told her about the situation.

After explaining her own confusion, Xharye sighed and looked at the group on the other side of the counter.

"Really though, I had no idea she was researching exactly what's happening with you Naeya. Maybe revealing your abilities to her will convince her to retire...or maybe it would convince her to fight even more to achieve having other people becoming more like Pokemon and to have Pokemon become like humans."

Naeya had to wonder though. What if the old woman actually knew something about Naeya? What if she knew something that could tell Naeya a little more about herself so that she would know how to go about her life. If there might be a way for her to stay more human, or if she couldn't help becoming a Pokemon.

"Right, the capture canceller. The technology department upstairs was able to make a portable device for you to wear, but the issue would be that while it's active, you wouldn't be able to catch Pokemon for yourself. So the times you would be trying to catch other Pokemon as a trainer would be a risk for you. You could end up capturing yourself in a ball, or you would be vulnerable to others capturing you while it's inactive. While this doesn't really seem like an issue with your ability to communicate and befriend Pokemon the way you have been, it would be worrying if you slipped in your caution. Your way of capturing Pokemon for now as suggested by myself is that you go with them until you're in a secure location where you can easily sense whether or not you might be targeted and deactivate the device for a short time while having your new companion or companions go into their Pokeballs."

Naeya nodded her head in understanding of the situation.

"I'm...curious about what the professor might have to say about my condition. While there is a little worry on my end that she might try to capture me herself for further study, there's also the possibility that she might be able to tell me something about myself I don't know yet."

Xharye seemed apprehensive of having the professor know about Naeya's condition as well, but in the spirit of how well Naeya had been doing with her abilities and that she might really get some helpful information from the professor, she walked over to the gate which led behind the counter and opened it. She led Naeya to the professor's office where Naeya both was and wasn't surprised at the area behind the door that she hadn't yet seen. The small section which seemed more likely to be a closet of some sort was just a small entrance space, while the laboratory the professor worked in was much larger and darker. The room was dully lit by glowing tanks of fluid that gave Naeya a mysterious familiar feeling. The fluid seemed to be blue in colour, but it was most likely just the lights of the machine making the fluid look blue. In fact, the fluid could be a thick metallic colour like quicksilver, or it could be clear like water, just thick like the slime generated by Pokemon like Shellos.

There were machines lining the walls with computer monitors attached to each different machine, monitoring many different things. It felt to Naeya like the entire room was already dedicated to researching her, when there was no way that was possible...right? At least, it shouldn't be possible unless the mental stretch of the professor working with the cult was possible. How else would that one cultist know so much about Naeya she didn't know about herself? Why would that cultist think it was normal? Or why would they be able to talk to her about it so easily?

"Ah, there you are professor. I have something else to ask you with Naeya here. It's difficult to find you when you're really making progress with your studies in here."

Naeya could tell where she was the moment they entered the room, but that wasn't the issue when Xharye mentioned that Naeya was with her. Naeya could feel there were other people in the room. That normally wouldn't be a bad thing in such a large lab if the situation were normal, but the professor definitely worked the lab mostly on her own. Naeya knew there were other people in the room, and she could feel her energy warning of Pokeballs being readied to aim at her.

 _Do you have the capture canceller on you? If you do, turn it on right now._

Naeya pushed those thought words into Xharye's mind. She trusted Naeya enough to do it anyway, but she looked at Naeya in confusion. A second after Naeya could feel the energy of the canceller activated, a large volley of many kinds of Pokeballs flew at the two of them, the pelting of their forms and stopping after collision, falling to the ground and breaking, being cheap imitations of the ones made at good factories. They were made by people who were familiar with the process of creating Pokeballs, but not people who had the materials to make them as well as Pokeballs were intended.

"What's with all the noise Xharye? You mentioned you were here with that new trainer Naeya? She seemed a little special when I saw her, but I can't imagine it being a reason for you to bring her into my lab unannounced."

Naeya asked her energy to light up the room around her, showing that the reason for the noise was in fact nearly two dozen cultists standing in the shadows of the room who had thrown Pokeballs at her. The professor was startled at first by the sudden amount of light in the room, then angry about the light because light was apparently harmful to the fluids in the tanks, but then she realized the source of the light and grew excited, but that excitement didn't last long before she realized the source of the noise she'd heard. The crowd of cultists who had been hiding in the lab with her frightened her to nearly have a heart attack. Naeya reached her energy to her a little to calm her heart from actually going into a critical state.

"Well, now this feels exceptionally awkward. I can tell the professor wasn't working with you which is a good thing, but cultists being able to get in here without her noticing is unsettling. We'll have to fix that. I suppose you already knew about my condition and thought you had a chance at putting me in a Pokeball, but it isn't happening today. It won't happen. Especially since my energy is just ready to do even the most precise of things today. Let's shut you up, and make you unable to move. Professor, could you call the police down from upstairs please? We'll have to look around for their way of getting in here."

Naeya's energy reached around and just before the cultists in the room could start panicking and reacting, trying to get out of the room, Naeya bound the mouths shut with their own skin, making their mouths sealed completely, binding their hands and feet together the same way. They all crashed to the floor harmlessly, not dealing any damage to the professor's lab.

The professor watched on in glee at seeing the result of a human with such control over ability even Pokemon don't have. She put off making the call for a few seconds, just to observe a little of the situation in front of her.

"Ah, right."

She reached into the pocket of her lab coat and touched the screen quickly.

"Security, please send down a large detail. There's a large group of cultists here who infiltrated my lab. Quickly please."

The professor tapped the screen of the device in her hand and pushed it back into her coat pocket before shuffling her feet over to Naeya and Xharye, grabbing Naeya's face to get a good look at her. It made Naeya feel uncomfortable, but the little bit of petting that made her feel like she was being doted on by a trainer...felt oddly satisfying.

"My goodness, your appearance is totally human, but you definitely just used the same energy recorded during the times Vescalla has been summoned. See, the machines in this room record all energies they experience, and the fluids which should be harmed by light in the clear tanks which normally light the room reacted to your energy. Naeya correct? Where is your home region? The region you were born in that is."

She wanted to say Xhova because that was the story she was told most of her life, but she had the feeling what was said before was true, that her parents only found her and looked for her real family for a time in their home region of Kalos before deciding to retire temporarily to Xhova to raise her.

"My home region is Kalos, professor."

"Remarkable...now, please, sit in the oddly shaped chair. It will measure which Pokemon genetics you carry if the data on the Pokemon are recorded in my database. If you have Xerneas data in you, then it will explain the connection to Vescalla, but otherwise, there's only more questions for me to find answers to."

All of her excitement seemed to ignore that the security had been filing into the room and dragging out the mysteriously bound cultists out of the room. She was ignoring everything but her interest in studying Naeya.

Naeya only took a seat on the chair when she was able to confirm what kind of energy it was working with. Just a thermal and energy reading through physical connection. While she tried to understand it on a more heavily scientific level the professor might understand, she was told the machine had already done its thing. Fast and painless.

"Naeya, come over here. Do...you recognize the species of Pokemon you see on the screen?"

Naeya walked over to where the professor asked her to look at the screen, and when she saw a shape similar to the statue in the park and the slightly different version Xhasca had on her team, she became confused. The colours of the Pokemon were different, being more similar to the legend of Lugia's colour scheme. A very human-shaped dragon with shining white fine scales which couldn't be seen as anything other than sparkling skin from the appearance on the screen, and violet moving fluid like the quicksilver appearance that showed on Xhasca's mysterious team member.

"That...looks familiar, but isn't it too different?"

The professor shook her head and faced Naeya with an intense expression in her eyes.

"While the legend says that Vescalla has pink scales and quicksilver skin, that is in fact supposed to only do with the amount of energy is has. While awake and unleashing its power, Vescalla was recorded to be of that appearance, but there is no data on what Vescalla looks like when hibernating, or when they are in another state of being. I believe you might be related to Vescalla somehow. Can you think of anything to support or deny this?"

Naeya was reminded that Xharye and Xhasca had seen her transforming into a white Mew, and so that answer crossed her lips.

"I...can't imagine any reason for Vescalla to be connected to Kalos, and especially I'm concerned that when I was sick from holding back using my energy, Xharye and Xhasca saw me transforming into a white pelt Mew."

The professor stared in shock.

"Sit in the chair again please."

A few seconds after Naeya confusedly sat in the chair again, she was called over to the professor and saw another supposed legendary Pokemon on the screen. This time it was the ever famous Arceus.

"Unbelievable, correct? Because Mew as the genetic Pokemon should have been a creation of Arceus, not the other way around. Mew was originally dubbed the name as the mother of all Pokemon, but without a gender and Arceus' stories coming to the surface, the world accepted that Arceus was instead the Pokemon who started the world and all of the Pokemon on it. In fact, my studies have been proving this false over and over again, breaking down Arceus as just another child of Mew, which your genetic structure is proving right now. Why not try using transform to become like the Arceus on the screen, but a version small enough to fit in this room please?"

Naeya was worried that the topic would continue for a very long time, and she was reminded of Juieh waiting outside of the room for Naeya to bring her out and find her first Ralts. Naeya wanted to know more about herself, but she also wanted to...

"Uhm, Xharye, can you apologize to Juieh for me and help her with finding her Ralts? I want to confirm what I can with the professor. I...finally have the chance to find out things about myself I've never known about."

Xharye smiled and nodded her head. She reacted as if she forgot about something, and tossed Naeya a small device barely the size of her pinky.

"Blinking light means the capture canceller is working. Forgot to give it to you before. Everything was surprising me so much..."

She waved gently and turned, jogging out of the lab. When she closed the door behind her, Naeya reached into the energy around her and tried. To transform into the legendary Pokemon dubbed as the creator of the world. With success.


	15. Chapter 15

Hours past the time the city hall had officially closed its doors, Naeya stepped out into the moonlit main room from the lab, exhausted from transforming. She lost count how many times she transformed into different Pokemon. She in fact managed to find comfort in that she could freely transform back and forth between being her human appearance and being her white pelt form of Mew.

When considering the appearance of Pokemon, the professor explained something that was rare among Pokemon, a genetic mutation. It caused them not to necessarily be stronger or particularly different from each other, but had a change in colour palette. Naeya's transformations, no matter how she tried to look like the regular Pokemon, ended up showing as the **shine** dubbed variant.

She tried getting it through her head that she was still human, but in fact, the truth was that she had a form she could comfortably stay in long term aside her true form. The professor's machines confirmed that Naeya's form as a white pelt Mew, which actually wasn't confirmed a shine variant, was the way her body was naturally meant to be. Her human transformation while it was easy to stay as, would eventually fade without the constant fuel of genetic information from her parents. In order to continue living her life as a human, she would need to take a bit of her parent's DNA to maintain her form. Because she no longer had her parents around for her body to calculate ageing properly, her human form was also likely to stay the age it was at.

Naeya...was really a Mew. She had to admit it. She was a Pokemon that could be any other Pokemon. She could temporarily take on any other appearance as well. She could look like other humans. She could look like any legendary Pokemon. The issue, was that her energy was off the charts compared to the reading of Vescalla when unleashed from hibernation. Her energy was stronger than a real legendary Pokemon. Even when she was exhausted, she was stronger than a full strength legendary Pokemon. It was...well, at least she was happy that as a Pokemon, she wouldn't have to worry about being captured by trainers with the capture canceller.

She had no energy to camp out, and there was no reason not to go to Xhasca's apartment and spend another night with her, so Naeya made her way through the room until she exited to the outside of the city hall. She could hear that the lock of the doors set behind her. After hours, without breaking the doors it was only possible to open the door from the inside. Naeya was a little concerned that the professor slept in her lab, but if she had been doing it for years, then perhaps there was something else she was doing to make it so long.

The moonlight and light breeze of the night felt...amazing. It felt like it wiped away mucus of the countless transformations she made. It felt disgusting after making multiple transformations. There was a thin film of fluid her body produced when transforming that did return to her body shortly after transforming, but it felt that the fluid built up and stuck to her despite is visually and really being gone. Maybe it was a warning of how often transforming was safe at a time. She really didn't want to transform at all any time soon after the amount of humanity she lost of herself in becoming different Pokemon since the afternoon.

She could recall how it felt to be many of the different Pokemon she transformed into. Being an Arceus for a short minute was...it was intimidating. It felt like her power expanded a million fold during that transformation. It was also awkward not being able to stand on her legs like normal. The many different kinds of Pokemon who were quadruped, who required their hind and front legs being planted on the floor for optimal balance made walking as a human on her feet feel more awkward than she felt it should. While she wasn't fond of being other Pokemon, being her Mew form felt...it felt like that was where her body wanted to be despite her mind and emotions being set on staying a human. Heck, becoming her Mew form made it so much easier to move around. She could use her psychic power to move around and fly freely while as a human, it would only look strange and unbelievable to move around the same way.

To shorten the time it would take to travel to the apartment, she transformed into her Mew form and flew up into the sky. She flew up and quickly found the apartment building. Even from a distance that the inside of the room should be microscopic to her vision, she could see Xhasca's room from the city hall. She flew over, enjoying the feeling of the breeze through her fur and the calm light of the moon's reflective surface showing the night time the sun's bounty from the other side of the world.

It took less than half a minute for Mew to fly over to Xhasca's apartment and stop at the window, seeing Xhasca work on cooking a dinner that seemed she expected Naeya to return home for the evening. Ampharos stirred from the little rest she was getting right by where Mew was looking in through the window and nodded happily when she saw her. Mew used her energy to put her on the other side of the glass and sneaked up behind Xhasca, hugging her back lightly. Mew's tail curled around Xhasca's waist and rested around her belly button.

"Mew?! Wait...Naeya?!"

Mew floated back from Xhasca after surprising her and transformed back to her human form. Naeya smiled shyly at Xhasca and gave her a hug with the arms which comfortably held more of Xhasca.

"You can transform? Back and forth?"

Naeya nodded her head. Talking had become difficult during transformation. Her mouth wanted to make Pokemon calls, and when she was about to answer, her voice barely squeaking out _Mew!_ , she blushed hard and let go of Xhasca.

Xhasca stared...with a surprised expression. Naeya was concerned that Xhasca might be more worried, more afraid that Naeya hadn't returned until so late, but her surprise turned into a thankful happiness.

"I'm so happy you're alright Naeya. I was worried when I heard about lunch time in the restaurant...and then about the lab at city hall. I thought you were going to be spending the whole day with your friends from Xhova."

"Me-th-then...did you hear, me-ab-about Juez' transformation?"

Xhasca looked at Naeya as if Naeya were having too hard a time trying to talk, concerned that she was pushing herself too hard to try and talk.

"Right, how Xharye was wrong about Juez being gender neutral and actually wanting to become a girl. That you used some kind of forced transform on her and now she's going apparently by a name her parents used on her when she was little, Juieh. That's really cute, and I'm glad she's happy after you helped her with your abilities. Now though...I'm worried you might be pushing your ability too much. Aren't you having a difficult time talking normally?"

Naeya took a deep breath and used the energy to clear her mind. She was able to force her body to work normally, but that would also worry Xhasca.

"I can talk normally, it just takes a little more effort after transforming. I'm worried you're going to be upset with the professor, but she had me transform...I can't even remember how many times since this afternoon. Starting with Arceus. That...was...well, I don't ever want to transform into Arceus again, because it felt like the energy grew to be so much more than normal. She had me transform into every known legendary including Vescalla, but being Mew is the most comfortable aside being like this. Apparently I'm meant to be a Mew, and this...human form of mine is a transformation that required consistent contact with my parents. I'm really a Mew genetically...which is...relieving. At least I finally know what I am and what it'll take to stay human. Either I sneak hair from my parent's graves and add them to my genetic structure with the psychic power, or I keep on doing temporary human transformations. Without their DNA added to me, I'll eventually lose this as a comfortable transformation. I'll just be Mew. And every other Pokemon I know of."

Xhasca had tears in her eyes. She hugged Naeya that time.

"Whether you're Mew or not, I still love you. Don't push yourself too hard."

Naeya could smell the food nearing the verge of burning, and reached behind Xhasca to shake the pan filled with stir fry so the food wouldn't burn and stick to the pan.

"Ah, sorry, I forgot I was cooking before you flew in here. That will be tough to explain to the staff here in the morning, that you managed to get in without security seeing you. That's a worry for tomorrow though."

Naeya shook her head.

"I'll be fine. I'm wearing a capture canceller at all times now, so I'll be fine. I can also move around in this form the same as I do with my Mew form, so I can just fly out."

After saying that, Naeya noticed that apparently at some point Frogadier and Doublade had been picked up by Xhasca because they were relaxing by the bed with her bag. Naeya hadn't realized they weren't with her. She felt guilty about not paying attention to them that whole time she was at the lab and transforming.

Xhasca was flustered at the idea of Naeya flying around in her human form as if it were normal.

"Of course flying around like that in this form would be awkward...and embarrassing, so I'm not sure. Maybe I'll just do a bit of example if we're asked for proof of how I showed up?"

Xhasca nodded her head that she agreed that would be the better way of explaining the situation. She finished with the stir fry shortly after, serving it into a bowl for each of them. Naeya picked up the bowls and brought them to the table they ate at before and sat down. Despite having not eaten for a long time and exhausting herself with all of the transformations...she didn't feel hungry when she saw the food in front of her. If like normal, like the other times she ate Xhasca's cooking, she should be salivating and bordering inability to control herself. It were as if her appetite vanished somewhere.

When Xhasca started eating hers and Naeya continued to stare at it, Xhasca seemed curious.

"Have cat's tongue now or something? Unable to handle hot? Or is it something else?"

Xhasca was so understanding of Naeya's situation, so caring and compassionate.

"Its...I really want to eat it, it looks delicious, but...it's like my appetite is gone."

Naeya shook her head and grabbed a mouthful of the food with a fork and put it in her mouth. While she still enjoyed the taste, it was as if her throat closed off from accepting the food into it. In order to consume it at all beyond tasting it in her mouth, she had to break the food down to energy and absorb it into her body...it wasn't as satisfying as food was for her before. She put down the fork and looked at the meal in disappointment. Not disappointment at taste or anything like that. Disappointment that she couldn't eat it like normal any more.

"Not good?"

Xhasca was really concerned. She stopped eating her portion, stood up and walked over behind Naeya, putting her hands on Naeya's shoulders.

"Your food...is always delicious. It's so good, and I love it. I don't like food nearly as much as you, but...this feels disappointing. I can taste the food, I can feel it, but I can't swallow it. I need to use my energy to break it down and...it's work to consume food now. It's just...not satisfying anymore."

Naeya felt that she finally lost one human trait that could never be taken back. It was depressing beyond belief. Even having the DNA to freely transform back to her human for later wouldn't matter if she couldn't do human things like enjoy meals. What was next, losing the need to sleep? She didn't want to know what was next. She wanted it stop stop were it was. She wanted to rewind the day to before doing all of the transformation. She wanted to live her life normally, but when the word came to mind, normal, she couldn't think of one human thing that would equate to her life. Normal would be staying as her Mew form. Normal would be...either living in the wild with other Pokemon, or claiming Xhasca as a trainer to her. Normal meant that despite her love, she was only another Pokemon.

Naeya's eyes filled with tears and the food in front of her blurred. Xhasca grabbed her in a hug, but for the first time, the contact between them didn't wash away her worries. Was her life as a human already over? Was she only grasping at an illusion and forcing herself to be human?

She felt her body using transform without her intentionally doing so, shrinking down to the familiar and comfortable form of Mew. Xhasca continued to hold onto her anyway, and brought her over to the bed. Naeya laid down, silently crying at what was lost to her. Frogadier and Doublade seemed to wake from their naps and moved to her to comfort her. They knew it was still her despite the transformation Pokemon just knew. While the Pokemon comforted Naeya, Xhasca cleared the table with her own depression toward the situation filling her expression. When everything from dinner was dealt with, anything Xhasca could think of that needed doing, she turned off the light in the room and climbed into the bed, grabbing hold of Naeya again, hugging her gently as they fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

"Xhasca, please open the door!"

Naeya heard Xharye's voice muffled from the other side of the door and lifted her paw to her face to rub the tear stains from the fur next to her eyes, floated up from the bed and over to the door. She turned the handle with the energy and let Xharye in before turning around and prodding Xhasca with her tail.

For some reason, it felt all too natural for her. She wondered if something was missing, but she was able to shake off the only thing bothering her, the stiffness in her back. As soon as she felt completely fine, she turned to look at Xharye who hadn't said a word since she opened the door for her.

Xhasca stirred from her sleep, Xharye stared at Naeya, and altogether, when focus landed on Naeya, she...nearly remembered something.

"Why is Naeya like that?!"

Xharye exclaimed her disbelief at seeing Naeya the way she was. Naeya couldn't place why Xharye was acting like that. Wasn't Naeya always a Mew? She turned and looked at Xhasca who seemed to be thinking the same way Naeya was.

"Naeya's been with me like that since I met her, isn't that right?"

Naeya nodded her head in response, but Xharye was shaking her head in disbelief. She walked the rest of the way into the room and closed the door behind her before walking over to Naeya's bag on the floor by the foot of the bed closer to the door section of the room.

"I don't know what happened with the professor yesterday, but maybe you've all been affected by it somehow... Naeya, this is your bag. It has your clothes in it. It has things that you wear and use often as an aspiring trainer. You can't tell me that Naeya has always been like that when she was clearly a human."

Xhasca and Naeya looked at her with confused expressions. Naeya floated over to the bag and sat in it, like it was a comfortable place for her. She turned her face up toward Xharye and smiled. Naeya couldn't remember much, but she definitely had a lot of fun with humans in her memories. Her goal in life was to be happy and have fun, that's...all that filled her mind. She didn't feel that anything else was missing.

After feeling satisfied with sitting in the bag, she floated up and over to Xhasca who hugged her and pet her just the way she liked it. She purred in happiness at the comfortable feeling she felt in Xhasca's arms.

"Naeya is clearly Mew. I mean, how can you mistake her for anything else? She and her friends Frogadier and Doublade became quick friends with us after travelling here from Xhova with those new trainers, right?"

Xharye became frustrated at what she was hearing. She grabbed the phone out of Naeya's bag and flipped through the contents until she found pictures of Naeya in her human form on Xhova with her parents. Pictures with her Juieh and Yuuka.

For some reason, Naeya didn't like seeing the picture of herself as a human, and turned away from it instead of being rude and smacking the phone out of Xharye's hand like she was tempted to. Xharye was shocked beyond belief at what was happening.

"Hurry up and have some breakfast sis, we're taking her to see the professor so she can explain what happened yesterday. Naeya was supposed to leave with Yuuka and Juieh this morning and they are waiting in the launch park for her."

Xharye sounded confusing to them, but she was able to convince them to follow along with her. Naeya sat on Xhasca's lap while she ate, and it felt normal to her. Like a comfortable place as Xhasca became.

When Xhasca was done eating, she changed to a clean outfit and Naeya picked up her bag with her tail, Frogadier and Doublade followed her and it all felt normal to her. Everything was...normal. Why was Xharye so upset though? That was the concerned thought that Naeya had on her mind. She didn't let the concern linger though. She was supposed to be happy. Care free. Full of love for the friends she had.

When other people saw her with Xharye and Xhasca, she became a little nervous and hid behind them to make sure she wasn't seen by people she wasn't comfortable with. Maybe she would make herself invisible with camouflage soon...

"Wasn't that...Mew with them?"

"Those two are incredible trainers, but...a legendary Pokemon?"

Hearing those words, Naeya activated her camouflage anyway, making herself and the bag she was holding disappear into the scenery. She would have done so anyway with the busy morning streets. She held onto Xhasca to make sure she knew she was still there. It didn't take long before they found Juieh and Yuuka waiting at the launch park. Naeya partially unveiled her camouflage temporarily to show she was there, then disappeared again.

Xharye quickly explained what was happening, and the group travelled together to the city hall. Xharye brought them all into the lab in the back and Naeya finally dropped her camouflage. She knew the professor was fine to see her.

When the professor realized a lot of people were in her lab again, she almost assumed that the cultists were back, but she sighed in relief that Xharye and Xhasca were among those she noticed. Then she noticed Naeya there holding onto her bag, and she was surprised.

"Why is Naeya in her Mew form?"

Xharye seemed to finally have some understanding on her side, but she wasn't satisfied yet. Yuuka and Juieh were also confused to hear that the Mew with them was Naeya.

Xhasca was about to answer that question, but Xharye interrupted her.

"What happened here yesterday?! Xhasca and Naeya's memories are all messed up, acting as if she's always been a Mew. Same with Frogadier and Doublade. Not that those two surprise me with this. Naeya and Xhasca acting like they are is what worries me."

The professor was confused at first, then she recalled what she told Naeya the evening before.

"Right! Naeya must have run out of the genetic means to transform or retain memory of being human. Meaning if you want her to return to her human form, you'll need her to retrieve a piece of her human parents' DNA. Otherwise, she'll be stuck between her Mew form and temporary human transformations as well as other Pokemon. As the genetic Pokemon, she'll only remember herself as when she is the form she is. As Mew, she'll remember everything but another primary form she held. Meaning her human memories shouldn't sustain in her Mew form without the DNA in her system anymore."

Yuuka and Juieh seemed to be in demand for the things they were hearing. They really didn't understand the situation at all. Yuuka especially since she hadn't been involved with the beyond human feats Naeya had been experiencing. She likely didn't even witness Naeya stopping the charging Bouffalant. Juieh at least knew that Naeya was different with the changes she made to her. That she wasn't exactly human.

"It shouldn't be too difficult to get Naeya her parent's DNA, right? You'll understand when she transforms back to normal. Just a little hair should be enough for Naeya to remember."

Xharye grabbed hold of Naeya, pulled the bag out of her grip and ran her out of the building. She ran to the cemetery and frantically looked for the grave where her parents were.

"Do it Naeya, just grab a little hair from your parents in there. Add that bit of them to your energy, and you should go back to normal."

Naeya pushed herself out of Xharye's grip and looked at her with frustration. Why was Xharye being so pushy and forceful? She liked Xharye for the care she showed, but she wasn't so sure with being pushed to...retrieve something from the dead beneath her.

Xharye must have a reason though, so she reached her energy into the ground and found two human energies barely remaining. She added their energy to hers and didn't feel any different. She was confused that she did something like that, so she looked around a little to make sure only Xharye would see her transform, using the combined energy of the humans to transform. She she found herself as big as Xharye, she was still confused. She looked down at herself, feeling the long human limbs attached to her. She wore a familiar outfit, but those memories she heard about weren't coming back to her. All she felt was a little familiarity with the transformation she was wearing. She felt that she could make the transformation at any time, so when she felt Xharye was satisfied, she let go of the transformation and camouflaged herself so Xharye could bring her back to the lab.

"You don't remember? Even after that? The professor was wrong about something...maybe she still doesn't know enough to find a real answer yet..."

She walked back to the city hall, holding Naeya in her arms like Naeya would hold Frogadier or Juieh would hold onto Pichu. It somehow made her feel that she was worrying about nothing, but surely all of Naeya's memories and passions as a human meant so much to her. Surely Xhasca's love for her wasn't vanished with what happened...

When she met up with everyone in the lab, apparently a large explanation going on from the professor, their attention was grabbed as soon as Xharye let go of Naeya and she flew around the room stretching after being held.

"Did it not work?"

Xharye wore a lost expression on her face as she explained.

"Naeya could do the transformation and looked like she did yesterday when she arrived with Juieh, but that's all. She hasn't spoken a word, not even made the typical sound Mew makes. She seemed confused, maybe familiar when she wore her human transformation, but that's all. No memories.

The professor seemed just as confused and lost on it as Xharye. Xhasca was confused for another reason. Maybe at least she would remember the situation from seeing Naeya back in her human form, but it would be strange for only Naeya to forget herself.

Xharye felt that maybe at this point, Naeya needed something she was passionate about beyond her love for Xhasca to remind her of herself. The only thing she knew about Naeya beyond basic things and her love for Xhasca, was her hatred and craving for revenge on the cult for what they did to her family. For once, she wished the cult would show up. There was nothing she could do but wait for the cult to make a mess somewhere and bring Naeya there. She didn't even know if that was going to be enough to have her remember who she was.

It felt nice to see her so happy and blissful playing around in the lab, but Naeya wasn't that simple. She was a complex person. Despite her only being a new trainer, she was a strong and smart person. She was mature and calm in most situations. She could quickly come up with a solution to frightening situations. While plenty of those traits still existed in her life as Mew, it felt like important parts were gone. She was still strong. She was still calm, and she was adaptive to her situation like usual, but this time it were as if she used that ability to become as much her new form as possible. Unfortunately, that seemed to include changing her own memories and Xhasca's memories of their time together.

Xharye didn't know how to react to the situation, but then she finally heard one reason as good as any to be concerned about her memories being lost.

"You said that's Naeya right? She promised...she promised that she would be the sister I never had the chance to have."

"And she was my best friend. While I love Pokemon, I don't know how I feel about losing a human friend to them becoming a Pokemon..."

Juieh then Yuuka made their opinions on the situation clear. They knew Naeya a certain way, and that person they knew was important to them. With her being the way she was as a Mew, she was no longer the same, while deep down she really had those memories. Maybe something painful made her revert to the state she was in.

"Oh, I forgot to mention to anyone here, but I have a champion match against the current champion of Alola this afternoon. Are we all done here? Because Naeya is coming with me to see her first champion battle."

Everyone was concerned, but the professor had a suggestion that cleared that concern immediately.

"Why not have everyone along? I can watch the trainer registry counter until Xharye comes back. The rest of you deserve to take a rest and enjoy a little of your original purpose coming to the region. Maybe Naeya will remember herself in battle, and it could help Xhasca with her memory too. Might as well try all options. Heck, the cult might attack the battle too which will give Naeya a chance to react like she did in here before and stop them the ways she has."

As she finished saying it, the group decided there was no better answer at the moment. Xhasca was a little annoyed that everyone was coming along, but she had no reason to refuse them. The battles were open for anyone to see, and the Alola champion was bringing some people from Alola to see the battle.

Decided that she had no choice, she nodded her head, and everyone got ready to leave together. Xhasca with Naeya on her head, while Frogadier and Doublade holding onto Naeya's bag made their way on Skarmory through the air at surprising speed, while Juieh Xharye and Yuuka rode mega Altaria following behind.

The flight didn't take long at all, but to Xhasca, it felt painfully long.


	17. Chapter 17

Xhasca was distracted going into the battle with her mind on how strange everyone was acting about Naeya's situation. Naeya camouflaged herself like usual from other people and sat on Xhasca's head to watch the battle from the best seat in the place. Xhasca could only think of how adorable it was.

The tanned challenging champion from Alola finally arrived on the other side of the arena making the traditional greeting of Alola when they steadied themselves on their feet. The spectators from Alola had arrived even before Xhasca's group of friends. She couldn't help but think how irresponsible the Alolan champion was.

"Sorry about the wait everyone. This crazy Salamence decided to play tag with Toucannon on the flight over from the harbour. How's everyone doing?"

The young man who stood there scratching his head awkwardly with a stupid grin on his face only seemed to annoy Xhasca the longer he dawdled from the challenge he himself asked for against Xhasca.

He didn't get any response from any of the spectators, nor from Xhasca. Naeya was concerned with how annoyed Xhasca was, but she hummed away happily from her seat on her head. Frogadier and Doublade were watching from the seats where Xharye Yuuka and Juieh were sitting. Pichu was also watching the battle from Juieh's lap. The Alolan spectators were rather relaxed, but they seemed their actual intent of the visit to Taffola was to experience the tourist attractions of the region. Like the type zones, and the harbour city, even the massive mountain most dragons called home and where the dragon zone was founded as the first of the type zones.

Champion battles, where champion tournaments on Taffola were held was where they were, and it was also the highest summit of the mountain in the dragon type zone. It wasn't surprising to hear that a Salamence interrupted the flight. It was annoying all the same. The most annoying thing was the blissful smile worn by the challenger.

"Well, seems like you're not in the mood for a little chat, so you're ready to go all out in our battle, Champion Xhasca?"

She nodded her head lightly so that Naeya wouldn't lose her balance and let go of her camouflage.

"Great, so full team anything goes battle, right? Six on six? It looks like you don't have six Pokeballs on your belt, is your sixth somewhere near?"

Xhasca panicked, looking down at her belt, and remembering that the professor had asked her to leave a Pokemon behind so that Naeya could fight in the battle.

"Right...I won't bring out my final team member until the rest of my team are unable to keep fighting. Please, begin with showing your first Pokemon."

The challenger nodded his head and took a Pokeball from the back side of his loose hanging pants' belt. It made him look too messy and ill kept to be a respectable champion. At least he should look the part.

The first Pokemon he called out was the fire type starter Pokemon from Alola, Incineroar. Following rules, Xhasca called out the first Pokemon from the left of her belt, summoning her Gardevoir. It was a good match up. Xharye sat up from her seat and started making the call for the battle to begin, seconds after she finished saying the word to begin, Incineroar was...well, attacking full force like an uncontrolled maniac. The Alolan champion just stood there with the same stupid smile on his face watching Incineroar attack recklessly.

Xhasca and Gardevoir didn't need to communicate with verbal commands, because Xhasca was able to tell Gardevoir how best to avoid the reckless assault on her. Eventually, Incineroar made one very bad strike at her, and Gardevoir was able to turn the attack into an attack on itself. Incineroar dizzied himself with an attack that sent him in a fast pivot. This resulted in Gardevoir easily knocking him unconscious with a burst of psychic energy.

The Alolan champion seemed surprised his Incineroar was defeated so easily, but after calling back Incineroar to the Pokeball, he called out his Toucannon. It wasn't a very good match for Gardevoir, so Xhasca called out Ampharos. Since her Ampharos was better at special theme attacks, the risk of getting burned by Toucannon's beak blast was non-existent. Finally however, the Alolan champion started making commands like a normal trainer.

"Toucannon, light up your beak's heat with beak blast and fly at champion Xhasca."

Xhasca didn't even have a chance and before she knew it, Naeya had called Ampharos back to its ball herself and fell from her camouflage, blocking the attack with a reflect screen protecting them from Toucannon's powerful beak blast attack. Naeya shoved Toucannon back with the reflect screen and called down a powerful thunder strike on top of Toucannon. The Toucannon couldn't handle anywhere near the full strength of the attack, falling to the ground before the Alolan champion called back his Toucannon with the most surprised expression he wore yet.

"Wow, thought your sixth Pokemon wasn't going to come out until the rest of your team couldn't fight. Maybe it thought it wouldn't get to fight with how well matched your team is against mine? It's cute, not a Pokemon I recognize, but then, I barely know half of the Pokemon on Alola."

Xhasca was a little frustrated that Naeya joined the battle like that without permission. Naeya reassured Xhasca that she would be fine through their thoughts like Xhasca did with Gardevoir and Sylveon. After all, Naeya could essentially become any Pokemon, and she was much stronger than other could naturally be. They ended up smiling at each other, and Naeya turned to watch what the next Pokemon the opponent would summon was. At this point, it was basically Naeya's battle, not Xhasca's. Naeya was going to most likely defeat another region's champion on her own. The exception was the Incineroar Gardevoir defeated.

Next called out was an unfamiliar Pokemon to Xhasca, but Naeya hummed in excitement. She knew what the other Pokemon was. While Naeya went ahead and battled the massive metallic lion which was hot as a desert, Xhasca pulled her Pokedex out and pointed the camera at the unfamiliar Pokemon. The Pokedex recorded the information just as the Pokemon was about to strike one of its front paws at Mew. Xhasca almost dropped her Pokedex to help Naeya, but Naeya easily danced through the air out of the way.

The Pokedex entry showed Xhasca that they had at least one reason to be concerned about the current opponent on the field. The other Pokemon was legendary as well. The steel psychic type guardian of Alola, Solgaleo. Naeya didn't seem to be worried about fighting another legendary Pokemon though, and despite Solgaleo being as powerful as it was, Naeya surprised everyone by grabbing up Solgaleo with her energy, throwing it up in the air and shooting a barrage of pin point fire blasts at Solgaleo. When Solgaleo crashed down on the ground of the battle field, it was unconscious as if Mew was playing with a Pokemon as weak as a Metapod.

"That's super crazy! Solgaleo has never lost until now. Just what is that Pokemon? You aren't even giving it orders. It must be a legendary, right?"

Xhasca was driven to a point of anger far beyond her annoyance at the other champion, shouting out at him.

"Naeya is a white pelt Mew! Mew can be any other Pokemon! Naeya is special because not only is she the most important Pokemon friend to me...she's also part human, a human I fell in love with..."

Xhasca remembered everything while she was screaming at the Alola champion. Him and the spectators from Alola were all shocked to hear the last part of what she said. Xhasca mentally begged for Naeya to stop battling, but Naeya was determined to continue fighting.

"...oh. Oh! Mew! The genetic Pokemon right? Able to even transform into people right? Ditto's good at it, but Mew is where Ditto gets that power from right?"

He called out another Pokemon from his team and happily watched his team one after another until his last was easily defeated by Naeya. When the fight was over, Naeya flew over to Xhasca and as she reached for a hug from Xhasca, she transformed back to her human form. Everyone was startled. Even Naeya was startled, as if she had no idea of the current situation at all. She let go of Xhasca in her hug and turned around to see the familiar face of the Alolan champion she had seen in news reports on her phone. She realized where she was standing, and stared at Xhasca hoping for an answer.

"Do you remember now Naeya?"

"Remember what?"

Xharye and the others all rushed over to them, realizing that the battle against the Alola champion was enough to bring Naeya's memories back.

"Seriously, what do I remember? You're all acting like I had amnesia or something. Why are we at a battle arena?"

"Well, this was supposed to be a match between me and Alola's champion over there, but you participated as part of my team. What was the last thing you remember, Naeya?"

She became sour when she remembered her last memory.

"Transforming and falling asleep in bed with you..."

"Last night..."

Xharye was ready to fill in the blank for Naeya.

"It's been half a day since then, and you and Xhasca forgot about you being human during that time. You thought you'd always been Mew."

Naeya seemed less concerned overall with the idea of being Mew.

"But I always have been Mew, it's just that I grew up as Naeya for Mama and Papa. Now I also have reason to be Naeya for Xhasca and my Xhova friends, but otherwise, I'm still Mew."

"What happened to being so shocked at not being able to eat like normal anymore?"

Xhasca was concerned about that bit of memory, but it was only her.

"Won't it be so convenient? Now I don't need to eat, cause Mew don't need to eat. I can enjoy food, but only the taste. Why is it an important question?"

Xhasca was a little hurt that Naeya belittled the question of a topic that she had cried herself to sleep on, but they were done.

"Well darn, guess I was beat pretty bad by your Naeya friend there Champion Xhasca. Maybe we'll battle without her sometime again. I'd like to hang around and see the sights here with the others who travelled here with me. Guess my job here is done? Anyway, this all seems too dramatic for me, like some of my old friends. Treat your friends well Xhasca."

He waved lightly without a care and walked with the other Alolan visitors down the mountain path. That left everyone from the group who gravitated around Naeya alone at the champion summit.

"Ah...it feels so weird wearing this form right now. I'm going to switch back to my other form for now."

Naeya scratched at a bunch of little itches on her where she was clothed before using transform to return to her Mew form. She sighed in relief and leaned back against Xhasca's belly until Xhasca wrapped her arms over Naeya to cuddle her there like Juieh currently held Pichu. When Naeya saw Juieh, she left Xhasca's hug and looked Juieh over quickly.

 _Did you catch your Ralts yesterday afternoon?_

Juieh was startled by her first time hearing Naeya's voice in her head, but she smiled and shook her head that she shouldn't be surprised.

"Yeah, want to see her?"

Naeya nodded her head, and the group ended up spending the afternoon there as a picnic. There was a small area for water types who required being submerged to live, so Seadra and Xharye's Quendra relaxed in there. Naeya enjoyed her time playing around with everyone in her form as Mew. She couldn't imagine the scenario of such a selective amnesia that she would forget about her time as a human, but it was over, and everyone was happy and relieved. She couldn't believe how satisfied she felt being in her form as Mew. It was liberating. It made her realize how annoying clothes were, especially when she was used to having fur to protect her from cold and to cover...well, her lack of physical gender as a Mew.

She was satisfied, but she was reminded of her desire to have some time as a trainer, before settling into her life as a Pokemon.


	18. Chapter 18

~Beginning the Challenge~

"So you're all going to start your challenge from the normal zone then?"

Xharye was ready to see Naeya Yuuka and Juieh off first thing in the morning before the city hall would open. The group all had breakfast earlier in the morning made by Xhasca after they had a sleepover in her apartment. Xhasca had some more court business to deal with on call shortly after they finished breakfast, because otherwise she would be attending the send off as well.

"Right. Yuuka already has a bit of a head start by having a normal type, but that's fine. Naeya and I will catch up real quick."

Yuuka turned to Juieh and gave a confused expression.

"I thought I mentioned it yesterday that I was instead going to be doing something a little different. I've already been offered a position as a caretaker in the normal type zone, to help take care of the people and Pokemon who might be injured. As much as it sounded interesting before...this is much more like me. I'm not doing the zone challenge."

Juieh was surprised, then tried to think of when that kind of conversation might have happened. She shook her head when she couldn't recall hearing something like that being mentioned to her. Yuuka sighed, but then she smiled. She looked down at her belt and gazed fondly at the two Pokeballs which hung there. She had her Teddiursa there which she had received shortly after arriving in the region, and the surprise everyone had at the sleepover in Xhasca's apartment. As a treat for her signing to be a caretaker in the normal type zone, she was given an Eevee which had recently hatched.

"That might be a little more awkward for Naeya...already having three Pokemon with her with Doublade Frogadier and Seadra...and her being a Pokemon herself definitely would make it awkward for the zone challenge. She could essentially be any Pokemon, so just go into the normal type zone championship as Arceus and she wins."

Naeya sighed in disappointment at Juieh.

"I already explained that my zone challenge from here will only be done with Pokemon I recruit to join me. I'm not fighting personally unless there's danger like with the cult or other such things."

Juieh seemed to have become quite forgetful, but then Naeya could recall Juieh needing reminders often while growing up together. Sometimes she was better, but she must be having one of her less mindful mornings.

Xharye stepped forward and started adjusting a choker band that Naeya wore.

"Make sure it's always on when you aren't trying to catch Pokemon. Also, be aware that the cult might try and invent an electronics canceller to turn your capture canceller off. Don't take electric attacks either unless you can immediately reflect them off of you with a mirror coat. Just...be careful. Xhasca would be more paranoid about it if she was here, so I'm making sure. Naeya, you're sure you'll be fine?"

Naeya nodded her head with the return of her kind smile.

"Yup! I have reasons to come back home safe, so of course I'll be safe. Besides, I also have Doublade and Frogadier ready to block Pokeballs from hitting me. They can't be caught in Pokeballs, so we'll be extra vigilant about the cult."

Xharye smiled when Frogadier and Doublade made it clear they were ready for such situations.

"Alright then. Make sure-"

"We have everything ready for if we need to camp, and everything we need for emergency situations. Really Xharye, we're fine. The professor will be wondering why you're late if you keep this up. We're fine, and we'll be fine. We've been getting ready for our journey for our whole lives, so we have more time behind the beginning we have here."

Xharye sighed and nodded her head.

"Right. You're all very smart and dependable. I forget myself that I'm younger than all of you despite my experience as a trainer."

She started waving and everyone started turning around to leave through the city gate and directly to the normal type zone, but then Xharye caught herself.

"Oh! This is quite the timing for a message from sis... Apparently Tresk isn't making friends in prison. Just as long as he doesn't meet any of the cultists..."

"We'll be fine."

Naeya said those words with full confidence, and flicked bolts of psychic energy at two cultists who were trying to sneak up on them.

"I'm on extra alert. Nothing will get close to me without my noticing. If Juieh sticks with me on the zone challenge, then she'll also be safe. Yuuka's going to be staying with the normal type zone, so she'll have a lot of people and Pokemon around her ready to help her if there's any trouble."

Naeya did feel a little nervous about having Tresk and a majority of the captured cultists back out, but it wasn't something her power as a Mew couldn't handle. She just couldn't help her nerves react when hearing about Tresk being back out. She wouldn't put it past him to do something incredibly stupid for his greed. And for revenge of having him thrown in prison.

Naeya Juieh and Yuuka waved at Xharye and turned to leave. They weren't stopped the rest of the way to the normal zone registry. Well, except that the Bouffalant who had collided with Naeya before had decided to become friends with her.

The Bouffalant liked having her fur combed, and Naeya was able to brush her fingers through the thick and rough as steel afro as easily as if it were her own hair, though the consistency was so different. Bouffalant was happy. She offered to give Naeya a ride, but she shook her head and offered Bouffalant a Pokeball from her bag. She happily tapped her snout to the button of the ball, disappearing inside.

"You can ride with me this way. I need to get my exercise too."

She could hear Bouffalant grunt happily from inside the Pokeball. She was happy it was so easy to get along with the Pokemon who joined her. And they joined her so easily. She would have to keep in mind though. Only six Pokemon allowed on a team at a time, and unfortunately Doublade and Frogadier counted despite their not occupying Pokeballs.

"Darn, you already have a Pokemon that will qualify you for the zone championship. I need to catch up to you."

Yuuka laughed at Juieh's complaint. Naeya shook her head.

"I'm not even trying. Bouffalant was sorry for hitting me so hard before, so she decided to join me in respect of my strength. I hope to meet a Stantler, because they're also famous for being territorial but really kind to those they respect. There's only a few I'm not fond of the idea in meeting. They would be fine to meet anyway though."

Yuuka became excited when she heard Naeya mention Stantler. Naeya knew there were only a few regions Stantler regularly occupied, and among them, were Johto and Taffola.

"There was this one Stantler which broke her right antler in a territory battle against a Kangaskhan the day before we arrived, and everyone's been having a hard time keeping her calm or working on having her antler heal. They were saying the day I picked out Teddiursa that they might have to amputate the rest of her antler, but you could probably fix her antler like you saved Juieh, right Naeya?"

Yuuka was very excited about Naeya being interested in Stantler for that reason. Naeya smiled and nodded her head in response.

"Then we have to hurry! They were going to do the surgery before lunch today, but if we get there in time, you can save her from going through any of the pain."

Yuuka grabbed Naeya's hand and started dragging her ahead past the farm house where she met Teddiursa. There was a familiar healing zone ahead, and in that zone, there were a lot of injured Pokemon being tended to. There were only human medical staff there so far, maybe because the human population were either careful enough or were being tended to elsewhere, such as the city hospital since the distance isn't far. For the more serious injuries.

Naeya was followed closely by Doublade and Frogadier, their excitement to meet another new friend was clear in their minds. While others would have a difficult time getting much reaction out of a Doublade, Naeya was thankful she could hear their thoughts with her psychic energies. Yuuka was barely keeping up with them. She was curious about Naeya being able to keep up without tripping. At least they discovered the main reason Naeya had a hard time with her balance in her human form. Her original form doesn't usually walk, and has small legs.

When they arrived at the medical area, Naeya could hear all of the loud complaints and screams the Pokemon were really having from their pains and injuries. Their sicknesses. There were a couple of Pokemon with the Pokerus, and that was spreading through the area. It made Naeya wonder if she had Pokerus herself with Doublade and Frogadier having it, passing it on. When she tried to check herself, she seemed fine. There weren't any major health issues in having Pokerus, just the case that growth increases exponentially...which reminded her that perhaps it was the Pokerus that triggered her abilities being unsurfaced...and the ridiculous amount of strength beyond what a Pokemon normally has.

Yuuka let go of Naeya's hand and Naeya looked down at the Stantler who was crying in her sleep. Juieh was even hurt seeing how badly hurt Stantler was.

"Hey, new girl Yuuka right? Come over here and help with this Dunsparce. He's been flopping around too much for us to administer medicine. Help hold him down."

Yuuka nodded her head and quickly turned to Naeya before she would head off and help where she was requested.

"This is the Stantler who was hurt and I mentioned. I suggest waking her up first before you heal her, but it's your call. She'll be rowdy as soon as she's awake, but she might stay calm with you, and she might be happier to go with you if she witnesses you being the one to heal her. Be sure to help her Juieh. If I'm finished helping with Dunsparce before coming back, I'll see if I can get the area receptionist over to sign you up for your zone challenge here."

Yuuka walked off with a wave, and Naeya turned her attention on Stantler. She was about to wake her up, but she checked that Juieh was ready first. Juieh was nervous that something might happen, especially after having taken an aura sphere before...Pokemon were very powerful and lethal compared to humans. She was lucky to have Naeya with her at least.

Naeya gave a nod toward Juieh, and she focused on Stantler.

"Hold Stantler down right here...and lightly pin her hind legs here...okay. Don't put too much pressure down on her. If she struggles a lot, put down pressure enough to keep her down, or jump off or her if she's too strong for you to hold down. It should only take a few seconds for me to calm her down."

Naeya pointed out to hold Stantler down just past the hip bones with Juieh's hands, and hold down her legs with her left leg. The hold over the hind legs was important, but it had to be a little loose or Stantler would be even more rough on waking up. Holding down at the hips would weaken the power of the kicks from the legs, so Juieh was going to be just fine in that position. She just had to keep in mind the rest of what Naeya said. And react as fast as her mind could keep up with the situation.

Using her energy, Naeya gently woke Stantler's mind and immediately comforted her through the psychic energy. She didn't struggle at all against Juieh's hold in a note of positivity.

 _Hi Stantler. My name is Naeya. I'm Mew under this transformation. I'm here to help you with your antler. A human friend of mine is holding your hind legs down, so please don't fight her off of you. If you can keep yourself calm, I can fix up your antler good as new and painlessly. Does that sound good to you?_

Stantler sighed and nodded her head, looking ahead of her so that Naeya could do her job. Thankfully the people of the healing zone had laid Stantler on the side where her antlers weren't injured. Unfortunately, the idea is not to lay them on their side at all. Like other long legged quadruped Pokemon and beasts, Stantler is meant to sleep on their chest and belly. Otherwise it's very sore on Stantler's head and antlers. It can cause them to become very irritated to sleep in the wrong position.

Naeya reached her transformation energy over the injured part of Stantler's antler and fixed the injury, filling in where bone and marrow of the antler were broken, because as with most breaks, some went missing during the break. The injury was made good as new, and before Naeya finished, she did a thorough once over of the rest of Stantler's body. There was a sprain in her left hind ankle, so Naeya dealt with that as well before calling her energy back, only to feel a Buneary approach them with a small cut in her belly with a little poison in it. Before turning her focus entirely on Buneary, she had Juieh get off of Stantler and Stantler get to her feet and check her ankle and move her head around a little to make sure she was satisfied with the fix of her antler.

 _Sorry I made you wait Buneary. I was just making sure Stantler got all better. Now, if you can, lay back so I can get a better look at your injury._

Buneary cooperated with what she was asked, laying on her back. Naeya poked a finger down and used the connection to pull the poison out of the wound, sealing up the injury as soon as the poison was out. Naeya administered a little energy to Buneary so that she could regenerate blood she lost in the injury. Buneary knew as soon as Naeya's work was done and hopped up onto her hind legs before giving a look of desperation.

 _I'm afraid...of going back to the forest. There are so many dangerous bushes and there are lots of scary Grubka near here...please take me with you._

Naeya could hear a desperation on the verge of tears as Buneary explained her situation. Naeya nodded her head, and as she answered Buneary, she heard Stantler mentioning her fondness for Juieh.

"Sounds like Stantler likes you Juieh. Want to offer her a Pokeball? Buneary here really wants to go with me. We should be as considerate of their feelings as possible right?"

 _It's not that I'm not extremely grateful for you fixing my antler and ankle. Your friend smells...she smells like another human I've met. A human who left me behind a long time ago._

Naeya nodded her head to Stantler who explained her reason for not going with Naeya. She picked a Pokeball out of her bag and held it out to Buneary. Buneary tapped her right ear against the button of the ball and disappeared inside. At the same time, Stantler chose to occupy one of Juieh's Pokeballs. Naeya sighed when she stood up from her strained crouching position and smiled. She felt happy from helping out the injured Pokemon she could. She wanted to keep helping as much as she could, however Yuuka was back along with a familiar face. Naeya was about to talk to her as if she was the exact same person, but like the Nurse Joy of the Pokecenter chains and the regular police forces of Jenny, the receptionists of the Taffola type zones were all identical. Not the same age nearly, though close, they had different scents to them as well as she could pick out from her to the water type receptionist she had already met.

"Welcome to the normal type zone. I'm the receptionist who overlooks registration for this zone's trainer challengers. Are you ready to sign up for your challenges to begin?"

Naeya nodded to her with a smile on her face, and Juieh did the same.

"Great, now just follow me and let's sign you up to confirm which Pokemon you already have on you."

Naeya and Juieh followed Yuuka and the receptionist along with Doublade and Frogadier following close behind to a small tent where a small table and a few chairs were shaded. There, Naeya and Juieh signed a document which confirmed that they would follow the rules to only three captures of normal type Pokemon within the zone, and that they could only challenge other trainers of the zone with a Pokemon who had a normal typing. To complete the initial zone challenge, a challenger must make their way up through the ranks of other trainers of the zone until they are deemed worthy of challenging the zone champion to a three on three match regardless of if there is a zone championship occurring. If the trainer can defeat the zone champion's limited team, they earn the right to use a boost item to a normal type attack. And to move on to another zone. They also receive notifications through their Pokedex when a zone championship will occur a week before it will happen.

Understanding the rules they had to follow, Naeya and Juieh finished signing the paper and took a step back. The receptionist took a look over it before smiling and asking her final question.

"Now, for the start of a zone challenge, trainers only need to have a single Pokemon of the zone type in order to challenge the beginner level trainers of the zone, so you two are qualified to begin challenging other trainers. However, we also offer guide service through the zone so that you might meet any Pokemon belonging to the zone's typing we have available. You can choose to have your zone team filled immediately, or take your time filling the rest of your team. We also require information on the Pokemon you do catch, so that we can keep track of how many of each Pokemon we have in our zone. It'll let us know when to have Pokemon brought to the breeding zone to replenish Pokemon who are captured by trainers who leave the zone."

Hearing that they had to have their normal type Pokemon confirmed, Naeya called out Bouffalant and Buneary, while Juieh called out Stantler. Yuuka was confused when Juieh called Stantler out, but she didn't say anything about it, figuring it was something they had decided on.

"Alright...and done. Thank you for joining us here in your challenge of the normal zone. Now please let me know, would you like to seek out other Pokemon, or would you like to start challenging other trainers?"

Naeya had her own answer, while Juieh had hers.

"I would like to take my time at the healing zone and help out how I can for a little before challenging some of the beginner level trainers."

"I would like to catch the rest of my limit for the zone."

Naeya decided to stay and help for a short time, while Juieh wanted to get right into her challenge of the zone. It felt that Juieh was making it a race between them who could win the zone challenge, but Naeya was simply happy that she had the chance to experience being a trainer the way she was. It felt even more rewarding to have the thanks of Pokemon she saved from injuries that agonized them. Plus, it was also likely she would meet another wild Pokemon of the zone in the safe area while she's tending to injuries.

"Receptionist, the Stantler who was supposed to have surgery has gone missing, I'm just about to go and look for it."

"No need, because Naeya here fixed her up, and Stantler decided to join me."

Juieh was proud to say that and Stantler who was still out of her Pokeball for the inspection of the receptionist rubbed their cheeks together happily. The person from the medical staff wore an expression of shock and tried to check if it was indeed the same Stantler before sighing.

"Incredible...how did Naeya fix up Stantler's broken Antler? Some kind of foreign medicine? The break was unfortunately very bad, and there was nothing our medicine could do for her."

Naeya had a little fun with her proving this time, lifting Buneary up with her psychic energy to sit on her head. Buneary smiled at the medical staff before staggering back.

"I have some Pokemon abilities, nothing to be alarmed with. It just really helps if there's trouble and with healing injuries."

Yuuka and Juieh gave Naeya a look of disapproval in the lie, but the medical staff seemed convinced.

"Then...did I hear right that you want to keep on helping in the medical zone for a little while? Because we have some serious injuries to tend to if you wouldn't mind helping me out. Naeya right? It's nice to meet you."

Naeya moved Buneary from her head to her arms and nodded her head in response. Yuuka walked up beside her with her disapproving tone still hanging around her.

"I thought you were going to be careful."

"Being careful and helping injured Pokemon who are suffering are two different things. I'm still paying attention to everything around us, and if I can save a Pokemon in front of me from more pain or at worst, death, then I'll do it. Besides, it helps with your work as well. If anything, I'm concerned that Juieh is a little less cautious with me around. She needs to be more alert when she's out looking for Pokemon in the zone."

Juieh stuck out her tongue in retort to the jab at her scatter mindedness. Yuuka sighed and Naeya smiled. They were nearly normal to what their personalities were like on Xhova. It was relieving that they could keep most of that sense of normality in her mind. Naeya was mostly relieved that she didn't have to worry about her situation causing further issues.

The day went on, and eventually the battles would begin.


	19. Chapter 19

Hours later, well past noon, Naeya hadn't eaten, and Doublade stuck with her and the medical staff until all of the patients of the medical area were healed and back out roaming the zone happily. Frogadier had taken a small break with Yuuka and Juieh for lunch together, and now it was time for challenges to begin. The afternoon was apparently the popular time in the zones for battles to be made. Naeya had a challenger almost immediately from one of the medical staff. They confirmed themselves to be an intermediate level trainer as judged by the zone, so she decided to accept the challenge.

Finding a nice space far enough away from the medical area, they began.

Naeya's opponent started the battle by sending out a Blissey. In response, Naeya had Buneary come out. While Bouffalant would be a good choice against Blissey's defences, it was a good opportunity for Buneary to gain experience.

Blissey was ordered to start the battle with a roll out attack. This gave Naeya and Buneary a perfect chance to use double team and have Blissey lose her momentum from the start. While Blissey was made dizzy from her own attack, Buneary charged in with a dizzy punch, knocking out a decent chunk of Blissey's composure. Before Blissey had the time to pull herself out of the confusion of the dizzy punch, Buneary used her endeavour attack to bring Blissey down to a more fair amount of health and then knocking her unconscious with a drain punch.

The medical staff challenger was shocked at how easily a little Buneary defeated his Blissey, but he still had Pokemon to challenge Naeya with.

"How about this?"

The next Pokemon he called out was a Miltank, just as well known for the roll out attack, as well as known for their good opportunity to give Buneary experience in fighting. Miltank didn't start the same way as Blissey, trying to instead use her weight in a body slam against Buneary. Buneary was fast and already a little stronger from fighting Blissey, so she was easily able to pull a counter on Miltank's body slam, getting out of the way and slamming her against the ground on her back instead of her front. Miltank groaned and flopped over unconscious.

The trainer from the medical staff was puzzled at how easily his powerful Pokemon were losing so easily to a little Buneary, but he couldn't deny the skill at battling Naeya and Buneary had together. To finish of the fight, the other trainer sent out a Tauros. For that one, Despite the fact Buneary would also be able to handle herself against Tauros with her agile and small body, it was a chance for Bouffalant to have some fun. Naeya relayed that though to her and called her back so that Bouffalant could have a little fun as well in the battle. Naeya couldn't deny. There were some frightening moments in battle, but the friendly challenges in the zones reminded her that Pokemon battles were often not a thing of life and death that she had been fighting with since her life on Taffola started. They were something people did to enjoy time with their Pokemon in order to progress their growth and friendship in learning more about each other.

Bouffalant dug in her hooves against the ground in excitement to head herself off against the Tauros which stood in front of her. Naeya knew Bouffalant liked to recklessly charge, so she had to find a good opportunity for her to do that. The other trainer started like usual the attack which would decide how Naeya would react for the course of the battle. Tauros charged in for a take down. This was ideal for Bouffalant since while charging, Pokemon like Bouffalant and Tauros were locked into their charge because they weren't as nimble as they would like.

Upon a signal, Bouffalant stepped to the side a little and swept Tauros' front legs with her horn, flipping her to her back. This gave Tauros a bit of a headache, and meant it could no longer charge for the fight. Naeya took the opportunity to have Bouffalant position well and start a double edge charge at Tauros, which finished the fight in a satisfying knock out.

Just as Naeya was about to call back Bouffalant, a young Litleo wandered near the fighting, to which Bouffalant turned her attention. Bouffalant wanted to fight some more. Naeya quickly called Bouffalant back and mentioned kindly that Litleo wasn't an opponent of theirs.

Litleo seemed lost. Cutely roaring in seeking attention. She made her way to Naeya, and the person from the medical staff just watched on enjoying the sight of how well Naeya could bond with wild Pokemon so easily.

 _Hi there Litleo. Are you looking for someone?_

 _Something...have you seen my tail? I was chasing it for hours but now it's just...gone. It feels like it's there, but I can't see it when I try to chase it._

Naeya couldn't help but laugh.

 _Ah, sorry about that Litleo. Your tail is just fine. You have a cute short tail, so it'll be harder to see, especially when your excited to chase after it. Would you like me to make your tail longer?_

Litleo stared in shock at Naeya, and it only made it more difficult to hold back from laughing. After a moment of shock, Litleo nodded her head and Naeya did as she suggested, making Litleo's tail a little more average in length. She also gave Litleo a bit of energy so that she could sway her tail a little more energetically and look back at it.

 _Thank you, strange human!_

 _Actually, I'm Mew, just transformed into a human. My name is Naeya._

Litleo hopped back in even more excitement, then hopped back forward.

 _Oh my goodness! You're acting as a trainer?! It'd be super fun if you could bring me along. I really want to travel and it's super boring here._

Naeya gave Litleo a happy smile and pulled a Pokeball out of her bag and held it out to Litleo. She raised her front left paw up and tapped the button of the ball, disappearing inside.

 _It's really comfy in here, and I can see my tail! Thank you again Mew._

Naeya couldn't stop herself from smiling. Litleo was so young and had such a childish personality, it made her feel like she was raising an adopted child.

"That's incredible how you handle wild Pokemon so easily. I've seen that Litleo wander around here a bunch ever since her mother was caught by another zone challenger and they left, but Litleo only seemed to want someone to play with, because that was enough to satisfy her."

Naeya made herself a little serious for talking to him about the topic.

"Actually, I talk to them a little in their language. Most people think that Pokemon like other animals talk with the sounds they make such as growls roars and other calls, but only a few species are like that. Others communicate mentally, and I can talk to the minds of Pokemon near me."

Naeya was almost distracted enough with talking about the topic to the man, but she caught the Pokeball thrown at her from the nearby forest edge, crushing it before the effect would show that it tried capturing but failed. Because a Pokeball should remain normal when making contact with a human.

"It's kind of like I have a special Pokemon ability that lets me use advanced psychic powers. I can even fire bolts of psychic energy if you were curious. Not that it would be a good idea to fool around with it. Imagine how tired a human can get from using that amount of power."

Naeya didn't like lying, but it was coming naturally to her. When she could feel another Pokeball fly at her from the forest, she proved the point of being able to fire psychic energy bolts by hitting the Pokeball with an energy shot and smashing the Pokeball into the cultist's stomach, enough to make him cough from having the wind knocked out of him.

"I was wondering what was happening, but...wow, you really can use psychic powers. And...didn't I just hear someone hurt. That looks like a broken Pokeball you're holding in your hand."

He was luckily dense enough to not have noticed the sound of the Pokeball being crushed, but he was fascinated and went to search for the sound of the source for the hurt person in the brush of the forest edge.

"A cultist?! I'm going to call the police service...thank you for the battle. I'll let the receptionist know you won your battle against me so you only have a few more battles before your zone challenge is done."

Naeya left him on a bit of a sour note, but it was better than him finding out that she could be captured without the capture canceller strapped on her neck. The choker to others would simply look like a white cloth choker with a violet crystal in the shape of a heart, but inside the violet crystal, there was enough machinery to stop Pokeballs from capturing Pokemon or herself within ten feet.

It became something so quick for her to deactivate it right away that she absentmindedly tapped the surface of the device when she was about to offer a Pokeball to a Pokemon.

Doublade was a little upset at being left out of the fight. Because of how Doublade really was, she was afraid of even having it fight in the steel or ghost type challenges, because now that she could feel the energies around Pokemon, she knew that the blades of Doublade were meant to kill, not to temporarily hurt enough to knock unconscious like others of its kind.

Naeya felt regretful that she couldn't give Doublade the same attention as the other Pokemon with her, but she wasn't fighting to kill. She was fighting for fun. The only way Doublade could fight with her is if she trained it to use the indirect attacks instead of the physical attacks with its blades.

Upset that she had nothing else to do for Doublade's current situation, she called it over with her mind and called Bouffalant back out of her ball.

 _I want to see if Doublade will be able to learn how to use indirect attacks, so how do you feel about helping Doublade learn?_

Bouffalant happily nodded her head.

Naeya sighed in relief. She wasn't sure how she would handle the situation if the other most defensive Pokemon with her was too afraid to train with Doublade. When the understanding was made, Naeya had Bouffalant and Doublade space themselves from each other and Bouffalant stack her defences so that she could take an indirect hit as best she could.

"Okay Doublade, follow my lead. This is how I use shadow ball. This attack won't hurt Bouffalant because of the typing, but be careful with your aim, okay?"

Naeya prepared the energy for a shadow ball on top of her hand, and launched it to the ground between Doublade and Bouffalant. The shadow ball didn't cause any damage to the area it struck, but that was only because the attack wasn't supposed to be destructive so much as it was supposed to be energy depleting. The impact of the energy against the ground was no joke however, as it made the ground rumble under their feet like a magnitude of at least four points.

Doublade followed Naeya's demonstration and managed to conjure a shadow ball of a much weaker volume before launching it. At least Doublade had good aim, because the shadow ball it launched passed through Bouffalant and hit the ground behind her harmlessly. The difference in power between Naeya's and Doublade's was almost frightening. It was expected however. Naeya was becoming confident there were very few Pokemon with comparable strength to hers.

Naeya was satisfied with how well Doublade was able to use the attack for now, it would just require some more training at another time. For the time being she would continue with other typing which would make use of Bouffalant's increased defence.

"Okay, you did great with the shadow ball Doublade, now let's try a flash cannon. This is the kind of energy you gather...and aim before firing it away."

Naeya gathered the steel type of energy above her hand in a show for Doublade to copy the same energy yet again like with the shadow ball, then fired it at the ground between them in the same spot her shadow ball hit. The flash cannon connected with the ground, only to cause a small explosion because of the power behind the hit. She noticed the hit wouldn't be nearly as dangerous from Doublade's use of it, because the energy wasn't nearly as strong. However, after seeing the result against the ground with Naeya's flash cannon, Bouffalant was too afraid to take the flash cannon. She shook her her violently that she couldn't do it. Naeya sighed and nodded her head, calling Bouffalant back.

"Aim the attack at me so you can let it go somewhere Doublade. We'll practice on me since I can handle it. Bouffalant was just over reacting."

Doublade was nervous to unleash the energy, but hearing the okay on unleashing the energy at her, Doublade fired the energy at Naeya. Naeya's energy took the flash cannon in harmlessly, just as she thought.

Next, Naeya thought, would be teaching Doublade hidden power. She just needed to figure out what Doublade's hidden power would be. For that, she walked over to Doublade and brushed her hands across the sashes gently. She could feel it, the energy for Doublade's hidden power would be ground type. After confirming it, she started showing Doublade her hidden power, which hers for some reason didn't have a typing. It was just the pure energy which surrounded her at all times.

Naeya unleashed a burst of her hidden power to the sky above them, like a beam of light matching the judgement attack Arceus would use in stories. Doublade stared on at the amount of power Naeya unleashed at the sky, in horror. Its companion was so much stronger than it, it was frightening.

Either way, Doublade readied the energy, and unleashed it toward Naeya. The energy like the flash cannon before simply became absorbed by Naeya's overwhelming energy. It was a little disappointing to Doublade since it wanted to be more useful, but there was nothing else it could do besides harmfully cut and kill things people and other Pokemon with the blades. Naeya praising it was enough for the time being, but it really wanted to prove itself in a real battle for Naeya's sake. At least Naeya understood and was giving Doublade the chance to learn a way it could be helpful without becoming too lethally destructive.

After finishing the first little bit of training, Naeya had Doublade practice learning how to gather more energy and focus it as much as possible to make it more powerful, so that Doublade could reliably focus on the indirect attacking. At some point along the way, Doublade learned how to pull from Naeya's stray energy to greatly boost the amount of power the attacks would do.

Pulling from Naeya's energy for a tenth shadow ball in a row, Doublade pulled enough stray energy to start evolution. Evolution stopped however because of the lack in the necessary evolution item. Naeya wondered if conjuring the item from her energy would be enough to trigger the rest of Doublade's evolution to Aegislash, so she poured as much of the energy she could focus into a pure dusk stone. The item appeared between her and Doublade, and when she pushed it to Doublade with her energy, she found herself growing a little tired finally. Doublade started glowing again in preparation to evolve, but the evolution glow was much stronger and brighter than usual.

The evolution was so much stronger than it normally would be, Naeya became a little nervous. That maybe Doublade would evolve in a different way. That it wouldn't evolve into Aegislash. When the evolution glow began to fade, she knew. Doublade hadn't evolved into an Aegislash. The new evolution turned Doublade's form into shields instead of swords, whereas Aegislash usually becomes a pair of a powerful shield and sword combination. Before thinking of taking out her Pokedex to record the information, Naeya reached out her energy and found the name for the new evolution. She found out a lot. When the evolution finished happening, she recognized the design of the shield to be different from the Aegislash she knew before. The pair of shields were small, but they had a sturdy sash band wrapped around the edges, capable of sharpening into deadly razor thin blades, or connecting the shields together, to perfectly defend anything inside their space. The sash would expand in order to hold even an adult inside. Aegield, the perfect shield was the result of the strange evolution. Naeya could tell that Aegield had much more ability with indirect attacks, and physical attacks while powerful rendered the defences significantly lesser and insignificant for the intended role. Aegield was definitely more intended as a shield, and was definitely more indirectly battle oriented. Perhaps it was the focus of the ranged training until evolution...

Naeya pulled her Pokedex from her bag and pointed the camera at Aegield. Before the Pokedex filled in the information, a call came through from the other end of the Pokedex, obviously the Professor's shock at seeing such an evolution occur.

"Naeya! Where did this occur?! How did your Doublade evolve that way?!"

Naeya explained the situation, and the professor became extremely surprised.

"That's...essentially a normal evolution minus the use of your special energy...this is very curious. Since you're still nearby the city, would you mind returning to the lab so I can study Aegield quickly? I want to check if Aegield has taken on any more of your properties."

Naeya wasn't confident in leaving without letting at least Yuuka know so she could pass the information on to Juieh in case she asked while they were gone for a short while. Then again, with the professor, a short study could end up taking hours.

"I'll let Yuuka and Juieh know that I'm going to go until evening, that way you can get your studies of Aegield out of the way today and not keep calling me back. I also need to pick Frogadier up as well. I'll teleport to inside the lab, so ready yourself for that kind of arrival."

Naeya cut the call after giving the warning of how she would arrive at the lab. She turned her attention back to Aegield and gave a smile. Aegield was much more expressive in the current form, however it was a little different than the less animate use of the hilt eye of Honedge, and the small faces in the hilts of Doublade. The faces of Aegield's shields literally became as clear as mirrors and showed animated expressions for short times. The colour scheme of Aegield was similar to Aegislash, but that was the only similarity. The design instead of a less expressive face design in the shield with raised metal, as a highly reflective metal which seemed enchanted with the abundant energy to perform more natural reactions and expressions. Sounds were no longer made however, so Aegield unlike nearly every other Pokemon didn't have a cry.

Naeya quickly made her way with Aegield who attracted an unnecessary, but not unexpected amount of attention with the strange evolution she had. As far as she knew, there was no other evolution from Doublade other than Aegislash. When they saw Yuuka, she was caught off guard and nearly screamed when she saw Aegield.

"I'm taking Aegield and Frogadier to the lab for the rest of the day. I should be back in the evening or at latest some time tonight, so can you let me know where I should set up camp?"

She barely had the attention span with Aegield nearby to give Naeya's words consideration.

"Oh, camp zones are at the edge of the forested area, or near the safe area, whichever had less people occupying. Frogadier went with Juieh for a little bit of training with her team. You should be able to find them pretty easy with you abilities right?"

Naeya nodded her head, and spread her energy out through the ground until she found Frogadier's energy. She led Aegield there, and when they met with Juieh's training, the explanation was even more brief. Naeya needed to keep her concentration zoned in on the lab in order to get an accurate teleport, so her patience was cut quite unfortunately short.

Barely after explaining to Juieh, Naeya surrounded the energy for teleporting her Aegield and Frogadier around them and at the other end of where the teleportation would take them.

The dark room with bright light blue coloured tanks lighting the darkness with their small casting of light. Not only did the professor have a shocked reaction to their teleport into the room, she showed an immense loss of energy when Aegield drew near. Naeya brought Aegield back as soon as she noticed the effect Aegield's energy had on the professor.

"Professor, are you okay?"

"...that...energy..."

She was terrified of it, and it seemed that Aegield's passive effect absorbed energy from her. Perhaps Aegield was far more dangerous than Aegislash, because the energy was meant to pull in other energy around it to strengthen itself.

Naeya wanted to reverse the evolution, as only she could do something like that, but the professor made her way carefully to her research station and motioned for Naeya to bring Aegield to the measuring device for the kind of energy it had.

Naeya could tell that the energy of the machine was similarly built to the Pokedex, but more that it was able to measure every energy in the immediate vicinity above it. Aegield's energy was being measured by the device, recording and transferring to the research station the professor sat at.

"...so tired...Naeya, Aegield's immediate ability is to drain the energy around it. It can put other Pokemon around it to sleep, and with people, the effect is quite lethal. With you, your energy is so vast that it would never stop draining. Aegield is far too dangerous to not be separated from other people and Pokemon."

Naeya's question was answered. While it wasn't a question, it was answered anyway. Aegield was too dangerous to have evolved the way it did. Aegield was meant to be an Aegislash, which still had the power of switching strength and defence. That could utilize the indirect strength as much as the physical strength.

"Give me a second with Aegield? I'm going to change the evolution, because this is too dangerous, and Aegield can't be contained in a Pokeball."

The professor nodded her head, and turned away, looking into the information a little further the result of the strange evolution Aegield had.

 _You understand what's going on right? The power you have right now is too dangerous. While I appreciate you trying so hard to evolve in a way you can help me, the other evolution you have from Doublade is far less dangerous to the people near us. I'm going to change your form over to Aegislash, alright? This is so that we don't need to avoid other people. The extra energy this form you evolved to needs to go somewhere, so we're going to use it to evolve Frogadier. We want to not be harmful to our friends, so unfortunately we need to do this. You wanted to be strong enough to protect me right?_

Aegield confirmed its feelings on the situation with a nod and accepting expression on the surface of the shields.

With all the concentration Naeya could pull together, she pulled energy from Aegield, using her forced transform on it to change the evolution to Aegislash. The immense amount of energy which fell from the Aegislash form, nowhere to be held by it, was moved to Frogadier, and she was covered in the glow of evolution. The resulting Greninja she evolved into was nearly as tall as Naeya's human form, far larger than her form as Mew. With the comfort of the Pokemon who travelled with her outside of their balls confirmed, she notified the the professor she was done.

The professor was curious and did want to study the way of evolution and changing evolution Naeya manipulated, but Naeya wouldn't let her study it. Moving the life energy from one Pokemon, changing its form was something she wasn't proud of. Forcing evolution. It was all something unsettling to her. Naeya wasn't helping them by promoting their evolution so fast. Aegislash and Greninja were happy, but they were also exhausted from all of the energy that their bodies were in contact with.

Naeya left the lab with Aegislash and Greninja, appearing in the field of the normal zone not far from the medical zone where she had teleported from to the lab. When they arrived, she turned and looked at them to have a better look. Naeya was used to Greninja having a mostly blue colour palette for the skin, but confirming the shining status some Pokemon rarely have like her own mutation in being a white pelt Mew instead of pink, Greninja had pure black skin with the tongue red as blood, and patches of other skin a pure white in colour. Meanwhile, Aegislash also had a new mysterious colour difference, likely from the contact with so much energy. A small side effect. The Aegislash Naeya grew up with had the usual colouring, bronze in mass with chrome blade, and violet sash. Aegislash floating in front of her had a white colouration for the larger mass of the body, and a similarity to Aegield with the face of the shield, far more expressive than a natural Aegislash. The blade was the same chrome, and the sash was a violet colour matching Naeya's outfit. Aegislash was matching with Naeya, and she couldn't help but think of how cute it was when all she did was change which evolution the Pokemon had. She had grown incredibly fond of the Pokemon who travelled with her. Greninja was just as fascinated with Aegislash's appearance.

Naeya smiled up at the sun which was about to start setting, bringing the night to the area they were in. Others deserved to know how things went with the disappearance before, and see the new forms Greninja and Aegislash had taken on.


	20. Chapter 20

"Hey, new guy."

He didn't want to listen to the people around him. He already knew that he was surrounded by people who were where they were for a reason.

Tresk sat in the corner of the recreation zone of the training zone he had been sent to in the prison. He was trying to not socialize with the others so he could focus on how he would exact revenge on Naeya and the girl he didn't recognize with her and the judge. The girl looked similar to Xharye, the receptionist at the trainer registration counter a few floors above where he was. He wondered if she was some kind of important person. He couldn't remember if her name was said or her position. All he knew, was that he was definitely going to make her and Naeya regret putting him in prison.

He wondered, how could someone their age influence law in the region, and the only cases he could think up were if they were an elite trainer, someone heavily involved in the law enforcement through family, or the champion of the region. While the girl seemed to follow the description that news would give of her without pictures being allowed, he couldn't believe that the real champion of the region would spend any time with an annoying girl like Naeya.

Tresk hated all of them from Xhova. Yuuka the most. Her nervous and flighty attitude angered him all the time, and it made him want to get different sides out of her. Unfortunately the only way she would react was hurt or she literally would get hurt from him getting fed up with lack of varied response. Juez was always with Naeya and Yuuka, so he automatically grouped him with as annoying as the girls, and eventually decided he must be a weirdo that thinks himself the same.

Naeya...Tresk hated the most. She was quiet. She was strong. She was patient and she didn't react to him much at all. That really pissed him off. She was far smarter than she led on as well. She had the highest grade out of everyone in the graduation. Only people from a Xhova born family could be the ones to give the closing speech, otherwise Naeya would have done that too.

He was reminded that she was quiet. Naeya didn't talk much to people. Seemed afraid of it. He liked to try pressing that button, but she still wouldn't react. He could get a little reaction out of her in grimaces of disgust, but that only pissed him off more. It was like she wasn't human or something. He could even get the better of the elders and the island locals. Even his parents. Not her though. Naeya...he wanted to finally put her beneath his foot. Maybe he should have made Togekiss hit her with the aura sphere. Juez wouldn't be as satisfying anyway.

"Hey! You should really listen when someone's talking to you!"

Tresk shot a glare in the direction of the person who started shouting at him. He almost regretted it right away. Instead, he sighed and looked back down at the ground to continue his planning.

"Stupid kid...!"

The tall man with a rough rugged shape, shaved head was menacing, but he was boring. Typical jail tough guy trying to get their way. Tresk wouldn't play along with that kind of idiot, at least not until the guy picked Tresk up by the collar of the shirt and was thrown to the floor nearly in the centre of the recreation area they were in. There were Pokemon patrolling the area, and they would interrupt in fights which would break out, make fighters second guess doing it again.

"I said, what you know about what's going on out there?!"

Tresk could feel and taste a little blood in his mouth. He could feel his temperature rising.

"You think that's a good way to get information out of someone? This isn't interrogation baldy. And I'm new to the region. I don't know anything you could want to know."

Annoyed enough to talk to the giant lumbering oaf, he said at least that much.

"So you don't know why so many cultists have been arrested over the last couple days? Figure even someone new here would know about them."

Tresk was reminded of the only thing he ever agreed on with Naeya. They followed the cult to Taffola, for revenge. If Naeya somehow had a hand in getting the cult put away, then it was all the work of that Honedge, or maybe that new friend of hers in the court.

"Well, I did get here with three other people my age. There's nothing interesting there. Just a girl with a Honedge and an idiot holding a Pokemon egg with the biggest scaredy cat."

He really laid out how much he didn't like them.

"Honedge?"

"Wasn't that a Pokemon that was seen by a cultist who caught the champion's sister and a new friend of hers?"

"Right, and there was this Froakie too! Strange thing though...that cultist never saw the Honedge or Froakie fight, the only Pokemon out, just complained that the extra girl they grabbed was freakish strong and beat their Pokemon herself as well as knocking all of them out shortly after. She even reflected a hyper beam apparently!"

Tresk couldn't follow the conversation, shook his head and stood up, walking back over to the corner he was sitting in before and sat back down. The rest of the inmates must be a bunch of gossip girls he thought, because they really got caught up in the topic of the abnormal girl who defeated them without using Pokemon. There was no way. Any skilled trainer with a psychic type could have their psychic type cast protective barriers from their Pokeballs. And they could have the psychic type enhance their traits enough to physically beat down even a skilled fighting type.

"What's even more crazy, is that those guys had one of those cancellers in the zones right? The healing zones have these machines that cancel Pokemon from being able to use abilities like hyper beam. The guy's Hydreigon that used hyper beam just happened to be stronger than the machine, so unless the girl had the help of a legendary psychic type Pokemon, there was no way they would be able to do crazy stuff without a super powerful psychic type."

If what they were saying was true, and somehow it was Naeya that ran through the cultists so easily, at least she was getting revenge. That would just be too convenient though. How would she have become that powerful? It didn't make sense. There was no way a legendary Pokemon would help her so easily. It just didn't make sense.

Tresk became interested but at the same time bothered by the topic.

"Hey, have you heard that another cultist break out is happening soon because of the massive captures of them recently? We'll get the chance to get out with them too, though I think it's too creepy to go off with those idiots. They seriously aim at having Vescalla awaken and kill us all."

Tresk hadn't heard about that. Vescalla...was it the legendary Pokemon of the region? He did hear from Xharye that the cultists used Absol, the Pokemon he wanted most to start with, to awaken the legendary Pokemon of the region. It was the only thing that made sense. Not that hearing a simple name of the legendary Pokemon told him anything.

"Hey kid, you know anything about this region?"

The same tall baldy didn't seem finished talking with Tresk.

"Not that it matters...I know that things as a trainer can be exciting, challenging the type zones and crap to eventually battle other zone leaders at a chance for the championship. The idiot friend holding the Pokemon egg I mentioned before used to talk about it a lot. Not that I'm interested in any of that. I just wanted Pokemon and to have some fun coming to this region."

He really didn't want to talk to the idiots sharing the cell. They just kept on talking like a bunch of idiots. While he was thinking that, he could hear some of the talking turn to murmurs and silence, because those people saw something through the bars of the far wall from him. He turned his attention at what they were looking at, and he noticed it was the same girl who was with Naeya in the court room.

"Champion Xhasca..."

"I heard one of the big hauls of the cultists was handled by her. Not any surprise. She hasn't lost a single battle yet. That little sister of hers working for the professor was also undefeated until their battle for the championship. I heard it was real close. Wonder who's stronger. Then again, if the little sister was rescued by that friend of hers, she might be even stronger than both of them."

"With a Honedge?! I call crap on that. Maybe if she were a Pokemon in disguise. There's no way a random new friend of them can be stronger than them."

Tresk...had a had feeling. Naeya really had become friends with the champion. There was nothing normal about that. Naeya was too anti-social to become friends with someone like that her first day as a trainer. She never even really talked to him. Not that he wanted to be friends with her. He just wanted to see her finally react in pain. Such a ridiculous calm surrounding her all the time...it made him feel sick that she met someone so strong while he was locked away in the prison.

"How's Naeya doing, Champion?!"

Tresk raised his voice toward her, just before she walked beyond the vision of the bars.

She stopped and turned toward him, the same kind of calm Naeya always had was on her face.

"My lovely fiancee is in the normal type zone today starting her zone challenge. Not that it matters to the abusive idiot who couldn't make friends properly. Maybe you'll learn from your cell mates. I can really see all of the hate from you she mentioned you had. Just like a dark type Pokemon. I'm busy. Maybe I'll stop by again later. Not that I have the time~"

Xhasca walked off with a few Machamp body guards who walked with her to the next cell, the deep cell which apparently held the cultists who were captured. Was she doing interrogations or something? Checking the stability of the cell? She must have heard something about there being an attempted break out, like he heard just before.

Then it clicked. Tresk heard her say some words at the beginning that he wasn't really paying attention to. He realized...Naeya was in a romantic relationship with the champion? He couldn't believe it. He wasn't bothered by her jabs at his personality. It was the truth. He wanted to be cool and interesting like a dark type Pokemon. He wanted to be strong like Pokemon. He didn't need friends. He needed people to fuel his interest. Pokemon to give him strength. Everything else was useless and in the way. He hated Naeya and Xhasca. He definitely hated Xharye, though the Togekiss was fun for the bit of entertainment it provided.

"Did the champion just say...fiancee?"

"And that new kid who's been sitting in the corner knows her?"

"The champion was into other girls?"

"The new kid in the corner..."

Everyone in the cell turned their attention on him. He sighed because he knew they were all after the same thing as before, information to fuel their interest in things going on outside of the prison.

"So, what's the champion's fiancee like?"

"Is she pretty?"

"Do you have any ideas about their relationship? About how far it might have gone."

"Oh, back off you bunch of gossip idiots. Its the girl I mentioned before with the Honedge. She's an insignificant idiot who rarely even talks. I doubt what the champion said was true. There's no way that anti-social downer could land her. I can't deny she's easy on the eyes, but she's irritating in every other way."

Apparently his description of her didn't get through to them, because they were imagining her in some entirely different way than he described.

"The strong and silent type, a girl strong enough to beat a Hydreigon!"

"She might be shy. Those kind of girls are almost always cute. If not a little weird, but that's still great."

"Maybe the girl has some kind of Pokemon ability like that cute charm which makes other Pokemon fall in love."

It annoyed Tresk like nothing else he could imagine. He just wanted the idiots to finally shut up. And he was hungry. He wouldn't have been able to believe how hungry he was if he hadn't been eating the crap the prison served them.

An explosion sounded, and the whole ground rumbled, making Tresk nearly chip his teeth from the pressure of his teeth clattering against the rumbling beneath him. The ground was...was it an earthquake? An earthquake attack? Something else?

"Machamp, hurry and get the dragon type pursuit squadron! I'll hold off their attack until you get back!"

It was the pretty voice of Xhasca he was hearing shout at near ear rupturing volume. He couldn't see what was happening, but it must be the break out going on from the other cell.

Before he had the chance to really think about it, as soon as he stood up, he witnessed a giant Garchomp crash through the wall on the other end of the cell, connecting the cell he was in with the other cell.

"Break out time you bunch of idiots. Scram before I decide to leave you all behind."

The person standing beside the Garchomp was tall, and they exuded a feeling that made Tresk feel that he could have all the fun he could ever want working with them. They were someone from the cult right? He smiled and walked over to the person with the Garchomp who was turning around and about to leave.

"Hey, how do you feel about an extra pair of hands?"

"If you live through the break out, then maybe you're worth something. Right now you're in my way, worm."

He hated being talked to like that, but it wasn't so different from how he would act if he were in their shoes. He went along with what the Garchomp trainer said, tagging along with the escaping cultists. When he saw Xhasca fighting alongside a Mega Ampharos, Skarmory and a Pokemon he didn't recognize, a Pokemon that terrified him, he dashed ahead of the rest of the cultists, feeling an attack about to come from one of those extremely powerful Pokemon.

An explosion of power surged behind him, throwing him up and out of the hole dug by the Garchomp. He was the first prison escapee apparently, because nearly everyone behind him was caught in the attack. He turned back and saw that the clothes and skin of the people behind him were charred as if they had been hit with an over heat. It terrified him, especially since that horrifying Pokemon was looking at him, ready to attack again. He ran out of there as fast as his legs could carry him.

"He's not worth chasing. We need to deal with the Garchomp trainer. He's broken these people out far too many times already. We'll lock him up for good now and release his Garchomp."

The Pokemon which resembled Vescalla nodded her head and turned her attention on the Garchomp which returned to the cell. She knew she was far faster and stronger than the Garchomp, so without giving Garchomp a chance to attack, she leapt forward and severed the legs and arms from the beast, then pinned the trainer to the ground with her tail which turned into a chain.

In the mere blink of her eyes, Xhasca witnessed the ridiculous power of the Pokemon who joined her when she first visited Vescalla's place of hibernation. Xhasca didn't know anything about the Pokemon. Was it a child of Vescalla? Was it a different beast entirely? Whatever it was, its power was terrifying. To so easily use a fire blast and roast the escaping prisoners, then to incapacitate an extremely powerful Garchomp, known for speed and strength, for being ruthless and murderous, that was truly horrifying. At least...it was using its power for good reason. She didn't like the brutality of harming the Garchomp so heavily. It was all the fault of the trainer that the Pokemon had bad purpose after all.

"Okay, let's try and round all of them up. Sylveon, can you go after Tresk for me?"

Sylveon appeared from her Pokeball and turned back to nod her head at Xhasca before taking off very quickly through the escape route.


	21. Chapter 21

The sound of an explosion and the rumble of the ground beneath them startled them. Was Taffola such a crazy place? Did such things happen all the time? This person didn't know much about the region aside the special league with the zone challenges. Well, most regions knew about the crazy cult that the champions have been easily able to deal with, so this traveller from Kanto dispelled their immediate curiosity for the moment.

They walked forward through the street at the same pace as the other people walking the streets. If they weren't making a big deal of what was going on, maybe it was something normal going on. It could be a film production or something along those lines, they thought.

Just as they were about to walk past the market avenue, the person saw a ragged person running away from where the explosion had been, someone with a sinister and yet also fearful look in their eyes. The new traveller to Taffola lost their mind to the madness happening, and walked further a little more without paying attention, barely behind missed by a Sylveon leaping past them. It seemed the Sylveon was chasing after the person in rags before. Was that person a criminal or something? It was strange to see a Sylveon in such work though.

The traveller sighed and clapped their hands against their cheeks before straightening up their thoughts and proceeded toward the city hall like they intended. It was a little worrying that the explosion sound was close to where they were heading, but they tried not to pay too much attention to it. As they grew closer to the location, that was a little too much to hope for. People were talking about it. How a cultist had a Garchomp dig into the jail to break out prisoners.

When they saw the result of the damage, between the city hall and another building nearby, they became nervous they might not be able to get to the city hall in all of the mess. There were so many people around looking on the situation.

"That was the champion's Sylveon before, wasn't it?"

The traveller became curious at that comment, but couldn't make out who had said those words. Someone nearby, that was all.

"Is the champion fighting that cultist?"

There was so much going on. The traveller just wanted to get to the city hall and register as a new trainer of the region and finally start their new adventure with Pokemon. At fourteen, the newcomer was eligible for the one of the unique starter Pokemon of the region. They had a fondness for fire type Pokemon, but there was an intense heat coming from the hole where the Garchomp had cleared into the prison. At least there didn't seem to be much of an escape of the prison happening. Was it the work of the champion? Was the person really so powerful?

The traveller finally found a break in the crowd to the city hall. When they were about to go in through the doors, they noticed that there was some kind of commotion going on inside. The doors opened automatically when they grew close enough, breaking the panic inside momentarily.

"Now isn't a good time. It's best that people not involved in law enforcement either stay back and let the authorities handle the situation, or go into hiding in the safe places within the building."

"You idiot! I'm Xharye, and it's my sister over there fighting the cultists and holding them back from escaping! You do remember my position in Taffola right?! Sister of the champion! Second strongest trainer known in the region! Get out of the way!"

She was about to push her way past the building guard, then noticed the lost stare of the traveller who just appeared through the door. She used the guard becoming distracted to walk past him, she nearly stopped herself to talk to the traveller, but she kept going.

"You idiot building guards need to remember that it's mostly been me and sis putting those cultists in prison, stupid oafs."

She muttered those words under her breath. If she was going to get involved in the situation, it might be worth checking out her involvement in the situation. If she was related to the champion, if she was such a powerful trainer, then it was worth seeing what kind of strength the traveller was aiming for.

Outside, it seemed a person wearing a different colour scheme to the girl who just walked out of the building was climbing out of the hole in the ground.

"Are you done with all of them already sis?! Darn it, I could have helped if those stupid guards would have gotten out of the way sooner. How are things down there? Did very many of them get away?"

"Just...Tresk. I would have really appreciated you making it, they forced me to bring out Vesca. Vesca is...terrifying. She hit all of the escapees except Tresk as they were about to get out with a fire blast. She even...well, it'll be easier to understand seeing it than believing my words, but trust me, you don't want to see the result of her fighting with physical attacks."

Xharye seemed to be uneasy. The champion was afraid of one of her Pokemon. What kind of trainer was that? The traveller couldn't believe it. Those two people were the strongest trainers in the region? They looked more like pop idols than trainers who travelled the region filled with extremely powerful trainers and Pokemon.

"Hey, how was Vesca compared to Naeya?"

Naeya? Was that another Pokemon? The traveller was confused. They wanted to ignore the ridiculous pair called the strongest in the region, but they couldn't help their interest in knowing more. Even if they didn't look it, the champion with an unfamiliar Pokemon stopped almost every criminal from escaping.

Just as the champion started to reply to the question about this Naeya, the Sylveon the traveller had seen chasing the person from before returned with a disappointed expression.

"...and Tresk really escaped. Well, hopefully he doesn't get himself involved with the cult. It would be pretty bad for Naeya's friends. Oh, yeah, even Vesca isn't even close to Naeya in strength. Just...less controlled. Seriously, Vesca strikes to kill when it's physical attacks. It's terrifying."

That stopped the traveller from doubting the champion. Pokemon weren't killers. At least, not as bad as people could be. As people have been. The champion had that kind of Pokemon on their team...that alone was enough to send shivers through the traveller.

The traveller could tell that the conversation was mostly over at that point and turned back to head into the city hall. One thing remained on their mind as they headed back inside. There was mention of that Naeya name. Was it the name of a Pokemon? Well...there was no way a human could be the one they were talking about when the champion referred to Naeya as far stronger than the brutal Pokemon with the champion. Maybe Naeya was a legendary Pokemon? That was the only explanation for referencing that name in that way.

The crowd inside of the city hall had seemed to start heading back to their places when the situation seemed resolved by the champion. The guards seemed more cautious about letting people in, but with a flash of the traveller's identification, they let them through. There was a terminal close to the entrance just past the guards which showed which stalls on the main floor belonged to what department. When the traveller noticed that the trainer registry currently didn't have someone returning to its post, they turned back to the guard to ask about the lack of that presence.

"Oh, you're a new trainer? Yeah, you'll need to wait for Xharye to come back for that. She's the loudmouth who pushed past me before."

The traveller lost all respect for the guard as soon as he started talking. He had a very bad attitude toward Xharye. While the traveller still hadn't seen either her or the champion actually battling yet, it didn't matter. They would be considered as the highest authority in any other region. Other authorities needed to bend to their words. That he disrespected her vocally was disgusting. The strongest trainers and their Pokemon have been known in other reasons to be the only fighting force against the criminal organizations, and the news proved that Taffola was no different, having skilled young trainers handling the work that law enforcement couldn't dream to, just picking up the captured criminals after the hard work was over.

The traveller held back from telling off the guard on the possibility they might be thrown out, but when they would get the chance to talk to Xharye for their trainer registration, they would definitely be passing along what the guard was like about her.

After making their way over to the desk where trainer registration was, they leaned against the desk and faced toward the door to wait until Xharye would return. The traveller wanted to be like Xharye in the way that they could be confident in helping out like the other great trainers who help society.

"Did Xharye go out somewhere again? That girl and her sister are always going off and doing things that make me worry for them. Anyway, it seems a new trainer is here waiting to register. Can I help you, child?"

The traveller turned around to see a woman later in her years, or at least, they would normally guess someone with some of the same features to be later in their years. The person in front of them was a little short, as if from years of back pain and bad carrying of loads, not from literally being short. The woman had long silky grey and white hair, wore glasses which pronounced the authority she cast, and she had crow's feet at the outer sides of her eyes. Her expression was kind despite the concern she had spoken of before toward Xharye and the champion. The elder woman...seemed as if she looked younger than she really was.

"Uhm, right. I'm registering as a new trainer from Kanto region. Age fourteen, gender ~~~, name ~~~~~."

The elder woman on the other side of the counter smiled and looked down at the computer, quickly typing in the information, and shortly a card was produced from a printer behind her.

~~~~~ marvelled at the card, happy with the picture of themselves in there. It was strange. They were happy, but it felt as if they couldn't really see their features. Such a thing...

"Now, you also qualify for a starter Pokemon of this region. If you would follow me, I'll show you your options behind the counter here."

The professor pulled three Pokeballs from their lab coat and called a Pokemon from each of them to show the new trainer.

"The Pokemon to your left, Swaffa is a grass and electric type Pokemon, well known for originally being quite dangerous in the region before forming the zone challenge league. They can blend in with grass, and aren't fond of those who encroach on their personal space. In the middle, Faera is a fire and steel type Pokemon, well known for residing among the dragon type Pokemon in the mountain zone before the forming of the league as well, and are considered partially a dragon type Pokemon. To your right is Guiiv, with water and ghost typing. Not much is known about Guiiv and their evolutions, as not many trainers choose this Pokemon to go with them on the start of their journey. A plus is, that if you choose to take Guiiv today, you can also keep the egg from the daycare this Guiiv produced with his partner."

Swaffa looked like one of Jumpluff's cotton balls, only a little more solid and had a face. Faera had the appearance of a small dragon, fire dancing along the arms and legs which were covered in a steel armour. A very small dragon. Which was very interesting to ~~~~~. However, Guiiv just gave the impression it was the better decision to go with. Guiiv had an intense expression on his face. His appearance was of a Pokemon which likely blended in with their surroundings very easily. It floated above the ground easily despite the water serpent body shape not having fins, wings, anything to show for a reason to be able to stay afloat in the air. Plus, water and ghost typing. It appealed to ~~~~~ greatly. And there was a possibility the egg that would come with Guiiv would have different typing to allow for challenging another could of types.

"I'd like to start my journey with Guiiv."

Guiiv's expression lit up when he heard he was being picked, and floated over to ~~~~~, rubbing against the waist. ~~~~~ blushed and smiled at Guiiv. Even if Guiiv was a ghost and could be frightening to some people, it just felt like the right match.

"Great, it seems you both choose each other. Now, if you'll follow me into my lab for a moment, I'll grab your egg for you. Before that, here's Guiiv's Pokeball, and ten more for your start at catching more team members."

The professor called the other two Pokemon to their Pokeballs and handed over the items as promised before leading the way into the dark lab. The dark of the room gave ~~~~~ the creeps, but they held that back when they were quickly handed over the large and heavy Pokemon egg. It was a little bit of a burden that would be worth carrying that ~~~~~ had to carry the egg outside of a Pokeball, but that wouldn't last for long. Not unless the egg was recently produced and the other Pokemon was a Pokemon which required a lot of incubation time before emerging from the egg.

Guiiv took the hint and put itself into the Pokeball which was hung at ~~~~~'s waist. After that, ~~~~~ turned around and now Xharye was there at the desk. She heard as they walked ~~~~~ back to the other side of the counter and the professor who followed behind.

"You're finally back. The first trainer registered since your new friends and you're more preoccupied with a situation your sister likely already handled. Meet, ~~~~~. Imagine, this new trainer also picked a Guiiv. That's something quite rare, isn't it? It'll be exciting to finally get information of evolutions for Guiiv's family line. Ah, which reminds me..."

The professor rushed back into the lab and quickly returned back with a large Pokedex device in her hands, which she passed over to ~~~~~.

"Whenever you meet a new Pokemon, add to your team or witness evolution, I'll appreciate if you point the camera in this device at the Pokemon. You have all phone functions in your Pokedex, so if you already have a Pokegear or Poketch or some other device of that sort, this is ready to replace all of them, more space in your bag for other things, don't you think?"

Xharye seemed exhausted just listening to the professor go on with the whole new trainer process. If she was getting so much better, why should she be so obligated to help at the lab and city hall new trainer registration?

She felt that somehow ~~~~~ was able to hear those thoughts, that the person was somehow similar to Naeya, so she got back to filing through the work for the day so she could get back to her story writing.

"I suggest you start your zone challenge tomorrow morning, though it wouldn't hurt to try out camping in the normal type zone over night. Heck, you might even meet the other new trainers who just started their journey. Something a little exciting to look forward to. You could even start a healthy rivalry. Just...don't bother with Naeya. Trust me."

~~~~~ was shocked to hear Naeya's name again. And apparently she was a trainer? How could she be compared to a lethal and powerful Pokemon in strength? It just didn't make sense...

~~~~~ was done with the registry and hearing pearls of wisdom from the professor, and headed back out. ~~~~~ was very conscious of the large egg in their arms, and was careful walking through the city and through the park near the exit gate until they were just about to pass under the arch. That was when they were shoved aside by someone who was very rough and rude. ~~~~~ looked up to see the same face who was being chased by the Sylveon before. They could recall hearing that the person who got away was a person called Tresk...hopefully they weren't a terrible person. At least that person didn't steal anything, and ~~~~~ was able to stop from having the egg harmed in the attack.

It was tempting to have Guiiv bind him and bring him back in, but Guiiv still wasn't a large enough Pokemon to be playing hero with. He ran away to one of the diverging paths. At least he wasn't going to the normal type zone. The sun was about to set on ~~~~~'s first day as a trainer in the Taffola region. A thought to their parents was given, that they would prove they were ready. That they would be just as good a trainer as those who fought Team Rocket in Kanto so many years before.

Through the gates of the city and the normal zone, ~~~~~ found themselves surrounded by many grazing and playing wild Pokemon of the zone. It was fantastic how large the zone was. There was so much fun happening. There was only one building in sight, a small farm building far ahead. A place where they thought they could make out one or two people caring for many baby Pokemon. The building wasn't so much a building as it was a single room under a much larger roof to protect the Pokemon of the zone who couldn't handle rain whenever that would occur, which ~~~~~ had heard was quite common.

After about ten minutes of walking, ~~~~~ passed the building with a smile toward the caretakers who waved back in greeting to them. Nearly a few steps and looking back toward the further in part of the zone, ~~~~~ saw something unbelievable. A girl around the same age as the champion earlier with an Aegislash and Greninja appearing as if through a teleport move, but not one of the Pokemon with her could use teleport. Could learn it or use the move. Taffola...was a strange region.


	22. Chapter 22

Naeya sighed and sat back, taking all she would eat for the entire day, a bite of food meant for Greninja and gave a good look over Aegislash and Greninja. They worked hard that day despite that they were in the normal type zone and neither of them were normal types at all.

She felt the eyes of another trainer who joined everyone that evening on her the whole time as if they were trying to figure something out about her. Naeya felt a little strange regarding that person, as if they were on the border of existing at all. It would be strange to ignore them, so Naeya had so far been kind enough to exchange pleasantries and introduction. When she heard ~~~~~'s name, at first she felt she could understand, but she could only say the name in reference.

"So that person is Naeya...a person as strong as a Pokemon..."

Those words muttered by ~~~~~ were heard by Yuuka who was sitting close by. Of course Naeya also heard it, but she was far away enough that entering the conversation would be strange and only make ~~~~~ question her as a trainer more. It was better to stay out of it as much as possible for the time being and concentrate on proving herself a well meaning trainer. Which meant making sure Buneary Litleo and Bouffalant were well fed during the dinner time everyone was sharing as the sun set.

"There are some rumours around Naeya, but she's just a really strong trainer. I grew up with her, so I know she can come off as a little strange, but she means well and she's really kind."

~~~~~ didn't believe a word of it. They knew for a fact that it was Naeya who used the teleport move before. There was no other explanation. A psychic type Pokemon or any other type of Pokemon using teleport needs to be outside of the Pokeball before being able to use the teleport move. After ignoring Yuuka for long enough she left the topic alone, ~~~~~ sighed. It was difficult making friends with such strange people. At least Juieh seemed mostly normal. The other trainers who represented the area and who were farther along with their zone challenge all seemed normal. It was just Naeya that was out of place.

~~~~~ didn't want to say it, but they had the feeling that Naeya wasn't really human. That would be insulting and embarrassing if she really turned out to be just a strange human, so that thought was kept to themselves for the time being.

"I want to see Naeya battle..."

Those words slipped from their mouth, but it was the truth. ~~~~~ wanted to see if Naeya would react and use Pokemon moves in the occasion that a stray attack would be aimed at her. As if answering that question, ~~~~~ saw a glint of some kind of metal reflecting the light of the setting sun, pointing toward Naeya. They were hidden in the bushes quite far from them, but maybe it was a Pokemon or a person also suspect of her.

They decided not to warn Naeya about the incoming attack, but what they saw happen next surprised them more than anything. Naeya swayed from side to side lightly as if just relieving her legs from the weight of her body sitting on them, avoiding...Pokeballs which were thrown at her. Was she able to be caught in a Pokeball? That would only prove the point even more. Only Pokemon could be caught by a capture device. It was biologically impossible for a human to shrink down into the size of a Pokeball. At least, that was a science explained by the manufacturers of Pokeballs.

It would be a bad idea for them to just start throwing Pokeballs at her. If other people were convinced she was just a special human, then they would consider ~~~~~ no better than a criminal. Some people were thrown in prison over pelting other people with Pokeballs. And what if there was a device nearby that cancelled capture devices from working? They were in the safe zone, which was already confirmed to have a device which rendered Pokemon incapable of using generation type attacks, such as creating a fire blast or hyper beam. It wouldn't be surprising is Pokeballs wouldn't work in the safe area. Not that it wouldn't be annoying or painful to get hit by Pokeballs.

Another few Pokeballs were thrown at her, to which she stood up, and one Pokeball passed underneath her between her legs, and she walked away. All of the Pokeballs...landed in the camp fire. They hadn't been thrown that accurately though, and only by a single person.

Naeya walked over to the place where the person was throwing Pokeballs at her from and grabbed them out of the bush, throwing the cultist into the open. He threw more Pokeballs at her, but he either had terrible aim...no it was definitely that she was extremely nimble. It seemed as though she was holding back how she was though. That Naeya was in fact even more nimble than she showed.

Naeya pulled a Pokedex from the bag which seemed nearly attached to her and apparently shortly after police arrived to pick up the cultist, so her call was to them. ~~~~~ was reminded that it was often trainers who handled the crime groups in the regions, not the actual law enforcement. It was almost a better idea to pay experienced and good trainers to be the police than let people who weren't experienced training Pokemon at all become law enforcement.

Naeya made her way over and sat between ~~~~~ and Yuuka. She frowned and sighed, whistling in a way that seemed to apparently call her Pokemon over to join them. Naeya smiled when the others joined them. It was relieving that she got along so well with her Pokemon. She was a prime example of a trainer who would become famous from their connection with her Pokemon. Between her reflexes in dodging the Pokeballs thrown at her, her strength in being able to throw the grown man the cultist before was, and her speed that showed with her reflexes, she was physically already proving herself to be a model of what trainers aimed to be. Someone who could fight alongside their Pokemon.

It was strange though. That Naeya, who was called a new trainer, already had two fully evolved Pokemon with her in Aegislash and Greninja. There was also the powerful Bouffalant with her. Then there were a pair of cute Pokemon with her in the Buneary and Litleo who were almost acting as if Naeya were like a mother or caring elder sister to them. That amount of connection between them made ~~~~~ jealous.

"Hey Naeya, Xhasca told me about you, and it sounds like you got held up from doing battles today. Want to have a fun battle before we call it a night? One Pokemon each? Or would you prefer to let your new team try at my team?"

~~~~~ recognized that person was a person who had shown up around the same time as Naeya and them. Someone who introduced themselves as the current zone champion. If a trainer could defeat the zone champion in a three on three battle, regardless of how many battles the person had done, they would be done with their challenge of the zone, earning their power item for the zone's type toward the trainer's Pokemon.

Naeya seemed to be somehow silently communicating with the normal type Pokemon with her and they eventually came to an agreement that they would do the champion challenge of the zone, to see how strong they are at the moment.

"We'll test and see if we're ready and how much we need to train to defeat you in battle. Be ready though, I know a lot about battle and don't need to call out commands for my Pokemon to hear my calls to them like normal trainers."

That was strange to ~~~~~. Only trainers who were well bonded with a psychic type were usually known for that. Was Naeya hiding a psychic type Pokemon in her bag? Wasn't Naeya a new trainer as well? How did she have the confidence to claim to someone who had been a trainer for years that she was very knowledgeable about battle?

Naeya stood up, and led her team to the battle zone nearby where the zone champion brought them. ~~~~~ really wanted to see just how skilled Naeya was. Did her ability include making her Pokemon stronger than they normally would be? Or would they simply be that much more skilled by being connected to her in a Pokemon/trainer bond? Two baby Pokemon and a Pokemon that has no evolution line. That's the team Naeya had. It didn't look good for her since it was well known that zone leaders had their zone team as powerful Pokemon which either didn't evolve or were fully evolved. Naeya had the odds stacked against her, but the way things felt to ~~~~~, it was the zone champion that had to be careful.

The zone champion called out their first Pokemon to the battle field, a Pidgeot. As far as typing, Pidgeot had the advantage in every way, especially when it was revealed immediately that the champion was leading with a mega evolution. In response, Naeya nodded and Buneary hopped forward. Buneary was a little nervous, but confident and shaking, but the shaking wasn't in nervous reaction, but excitement.

"Okay Pidgeot, use twister to stir up the air and prevent Buneary from moving around a lot."

While that was a good idea, it wasn't necessarily a good idea since Buneary is nimble enough to use a twister attack to reach a flying type. That was the thought as Buneary leapt willingly into the twister and rode it up out of the top of the spout, only to show up above Pidgeot, and descend quickly before Pidgeot could find the chance to react to Buneary's daring move. Buneary connected with a powerful high jump kick to Pidgeot's head, lowering Pidgeot's altitude to something more able to be handled by Buneary. However, Buneary wasn't done. Buneary mounted Pidgeot's back and used dizzy punch on it, driving Pidgeot into its own twister attack. This resulted in Buneary hopping off at just the right time and Pidgeot fainting from the intensity of the combination of attacks. Crashing against the ground through the dizzying of the punch and the twister attack itself had used.

~~~~~ was stunned from how easily a baby Pokemon handled a mega evolved Pokemon. Naeya was definitely...her and her Pokemon were definitely highly skilled. Buneary was still a baby Pokemon, so it didn't have the power on its own to bring the Pidgeot down as fast as it did, it was the intelligent strategy which won that fight.

"Incredible! You really live up to the rumours about you, Naeya. Let's keep going. I'd like to see how you handle Kangaskhan."

The zone champion called forth the well known mother Pokemon who always had a baby Pokemon in her belly pouch. Kangaskhan was well known as a very powerful Pokemon who could mega evolve, but did the champion of the normal zone have the energy to supply Kangaskhan the energy needed for performing mega evolution right after Pidgeot?

That question was answered right away. The zone champion did have enough energy to trigger Kangaskhan's mega evolution. It wasn't surprising at all that Naeya called Buneary back, and Bouffalant walked forward, cautious of how it would handle fighting the Kangaskhan. The caution didn't last long as a plan was rehearsed to it by Naeya. It made ~~~~~ curious. How was she really communicating with them so easily? Naeya's expression were as if she were truly having fun with the battles. Her Buneary ended up unharmed through a fight against a mega evolved Pidgeot. The pace was looking very good for her already despite how bad Kangaskhan could be for them.

Bouffalant seemed to root to the spot, making Kangaskhan make the first move. The mother and baby reached out to attack Bouffalant and attack it, but to their surprise, Bouffalant was ready. The fake out attack missed, and Bouffalant after hopping back out of the way began a reversal attack, knocking the mother Pokemon to her back. The baby waddled over to the mother Kangaskhan and flopped against her. The zone champion stared on baffled and called them back since they were definitely out after that attack. It was looking bad for the champion unless they had a Pokemon Naeya didn't know how to deal with.

~~~~~ stared on. They were almost paying more attention to Naeya and her Pokemon than the rest of the battle, to see how well she was handling everything. When Bouffalant turned back and smiled at Naeya at how well it did during the battle, ~~~~~ finally noticed. The expressions matched. Naeya was excited the same way the Pokemon were for battle. Happy in the same way over victory. The difference was when Naeya was going to plan out fighting their opponent.

The final Pokemon the zone champion called out against Naeya was a Sawsbuck. There was no reason Naeya wouldn't be able to handle Sawsbuck easily with Litleo, however, she had Buneary start it off. Maybe she had something planned? ~~~~~ was curious what kind of unique battle plan she had against the Sawsbuck. Sawsbuck would normally be at an advantage over Buneary, but it seemed Naeya might...do a switching plan. This was only to provide more experience to Buneary.

"Sawsbuck, start with firing leech seed until it hits. If Buneary gets too close before you land a leech seed, hit it with a seed bomb."

That wasn't a bad plan to start with, but it seemed that was within what Naeya was expecting. Since Buneary was almost completely a physical attacker, keep it at a distance. However, the zone champion might not have noticed how nimble the Buneary was before. When Buneary quickly dashed forward through the field past and under the leech seed until the attacks turned to seed bomb, ~~~~~ noticed something not so surprising. Buneary was using a combination of double team and quick attack to avoid the attacks. To distract and speed past the attacks aimed at it. It took seconds for Buneary to close the distance and get a paralysing thunder punch off on Sawsbuck. Everyone was shocked at what the plan with Buneary was. Giving the paralysed status effect when a burn would be much more helpful in the battle.

Buneary was called back, and when it returned to Naeya, hopped up to her arms and started to glow as if evolving. Litleo walked forward to join the battle, starting off with a fire spin attack, which would only make the situation worse for Sawsbuck. By the time the first fire spin stopped roaring around Sawsbuck, Sawsbuck was nearly too exhausted to attack.

"Sawsbuck, use ingrain and synthesis. Try to regain your energy before the next attack."

That was too slow though, and Sawsbuck was suffering too much from the paralysis affliction, unable to use either of the moves asked of it. Just as Litleo started a flame charge, Buneary finished evolving into a Lopunny and hopped down from Naeya's arms, being a little big for being held onto like that with the size change. Litleo's flame charge connected with Sawsbuck's side after a quick redirection around to a side, knocking Sawsbuck to its side. Sawsbuck was knocked out from that attack. Litleo gave a cute victorious growl...and the light of evolution covered it the same way it had covered Buneary. Litleo walked back to Naeya, growing through the distance, and reaching her with the female evolved form of Pyroar. The beautiful evolved Pokemon snuggled against Naeya's side. Naeya was an incredible trainer. Regardless of how interesting her own abilities were, ~~~~~ had to admit, she definitely was a very powerful trainer. It would be interesting to see her growing stronger and experiencing the zone challenge. But wasn't it strange? How was she so good yet just beginning as a trainer? ~~~~~ couldn't imagine her being new to being a trainer. She must have at least grown up with Pokemon to know how to handle them...

It didn't seem to matter how much ~~~~~ found it hard to believe the situation, because Naeya earned her victory over the zone champion and her right to continue on to another zone when morning would come. It seemed as if she would stay until the other trainer she was spending time with would finish her challenge of the zone. Maybe they were taking care of each other? It could just be that it would be boring without having another trainer along on the journey. To which ~~~~~ was convinced that would be a decent reason to go along with them as well. They wanted to hurry and grow enough as a trainer in time to move on with them through the zones. To eventually reach Naeya's incredible ability to battle with her Pokemon.

After finishing with the challenge against the zone champion, there was the handing over of a power item for the normal type to her, and the small speech telling her she could go on to whichever type zone she wanted to next. Following the roads, if they turned right exiting the zone, the next zone was the grass type zone, followed by water, then flying type and so on. It was actually quite a layout they had to admit. Naeya had already seen the layout of the region from above, so she wasn't surprised and already had it planned out where she would go next. To the fighting zone as the first zone on the other end. At least, if she could mega evolve her Lopunny, it would qualify as a fighting type.

Naeya sighed as if tired from the long day and sat back between Yuuka and ~~~~~.

"Incredible Naeya! Not a single verbal command! You must have really grown close with your Pokemon already to know how to work with them so well."

~~~~~ wasn't convinced it was something so idealistic. There was definitely something more than just being close with the Pokemon to be able to fight without commands like that.

"Don't bother trying so hard to hide it. ~~~~~ will only become more suspicious the more you talk around my condition. Otherwise...I'm sorry I haven't properly introduced myself until now. My name is Naeya. Home region is Kalos, and I haven't had much experience with Pokemon until arriving in this region. It might be a little hard to believe, but battling feels natural to me. Communicating the way I do with my Pokemon is through the same kind of telepathy psychic type Pokemon use, but it's just a personal ability. There's a little more to me than that, but you can find out more about me when the time is right."

~~~~~ blushed in embarrassment. It felt strange to them that Naeya was so mature and smart about how she talked about the situation. It was like her words explained everything and there was no reason to doubt her. Like somehow there was another psychic method being used to convince...but there was no way that was the case, because Naeya was so kind and...it showed in how well she had truly formed bonds with her Pokemon already.

Yuuka seemed to be frustrated that Naeya was so much more composed about the conversation than her despite the circumstances of it.

"Right...nice to meet you Naeya. As you already know, my name is ~~~~~, home region is Kanto and my reason to start my journey here in Taffola is to reach for the championship of the region to prove to my parents I don't need them to decide my future for me. They were going to have me take over their daycare... If you have more interesting things about you for me to learn, then I'd like to travel with you and your other friend who is doing the zone challenge. I'd like to have all the opportunity possible to learn to fight the same as you, but maybe being a rival to your other friend is more realistic for now..."

~~~~~ was a little bit of a personal downer, telling themselves that it was already impossible to reach Naeya's level as a trainer, but Naeya comforted them.

"You're only just starting. You haven't even started as a trainer yet and you're already putting yourself down. That's a very bad attitude to have when you're expecting to raise the Pokemon that will hatch from the egg you've been so dedicated to holding since you showed up. A good trainer has to be a good example and role model to their Pokemon, because the trainer influences the personality of the Pokemon. It doesn't mean I would ever hold back with my Pokemon against yours or anyone else. A battle must be won fairly after all. I do suggest competing with Juieh, but only for the case that Juieh seems to be having about an average time learning to train with her Pokemon from today's results. It's better to compete with the average to start than to aim for the highest goal of a trainer right from the beginning. I have expectations on me with my abilities from Xhasca and Xharye to be able to take over as the region's champion, but for the time being, my job is to enjoy an adventure. You should take your time and learn patience enough to enjoy the adventure for what it is as well."

Naeya came off like an elder, someone who was wise beyond their years and ready to explain things many average trainers wouldn't be able to because they were hard to put into words. She had expectation on her to succeed as champion of the region at the end of her journey, but it seemed she just wanted to have fun for the time being. It was all about the adventure and the experiences before she would have a lot of responsibility dumped on her. Or like something important would end for her when her championship battle would come.

~~~~~ couldn't believe when their own thoughts turned to the possibility that maybe Naeya's life as a trainer would end after the adventure. That kind of feeling hung in the air, and it made ~~~~~ feel awkward being near Naeya. Such a powerful person...she was definitely a level of strength anyone should want to aim for as a trainer. The fact of the matter was that ~~~~~ still knew next to nothing about the situation, and they simply had to learn more as time would pass during the adventure.

"Ah, but you're going to want to be careful if you decide to travel with Juieh and myself. The cult of this region seems to have made me a target because of my relationship with Xhasca. They seem to think I can be captured in a Pokeball, so some might hit you as well. While I'm sure I can use my abilities to stop them from hitting us, there's the chance that you might be hit by a Pokeball as well. You shouldn't have anything to worry about except maybe battling with the cult and being pelted by Pokeballs, but that might be enough to sway your decision on joining us."

The amount of trouble that surrounded the idea of travelling with her only convinced ~~~~~ more that they should join her on the adventure. They smiled and showed they were mentally ready for it. Night eventually fell, and the group camped together near the safe zone with other workers of the area. ~~~~~ wasn't totally convinced it was the best idea to push themselves to travel with Naeya, but the best example of a champion level trainer was something not worth considering the consequences to them. Steeling their mind to the idea that the adventure would be difficult and stressful, they eventually let themselves fall asleep.


	23. Chapter 23

Huffing and panting in exhaustion from running as far away from the city since the afternoon, Tresk finally fell to the ground and sighed. He barely had the strength to turn himself over to look up at the sky. Thoughts flowed through his mind, but he only grew angry at the kind of thoughts they were.

The thoughts asked him if it was really worth it. To be angry and vengeant all the time. To join the cult which killed his parents. To continue being selfish and mindlessly immoral. To be so hateful toward the people he was. Despite his personality and the way his mind had worked until that point, he had to admit that he was the one who caused the strained relationships with the other people he met. He would never make any real friends with his attitude and personality. Never really get along with others unless he would decide to drop his reckless and stupid acts.

The only thing he regretted was that maybe he hurt Juez too much when he pushed the Togekiss to use aura sphere on him. Yet...unless Tresk properly served his sentence in prison, he would have to hide himself if he was going to visit Juez in the hospital.

Tresk was still vengeant toward Naeya. More than the cult. He was also angry at Xhasca. That woman disgusted him. It was a mix of her claiming Naeya in a relationship which was although less terrible than the things he did, immoral. Two girls in a relationship was disgusting to him. He was also disgusted with the stupid amount of power that one Pokemon of hers had. That Pokemon which roasted the other escaping prisoners enough to knock them out, maybe kill them. The scent of burning flesh still lingered in his nose.

The clear night sky almost seemed too kind to Tresk. For the things he had piled up in his past, having rain fall over him in the situation when he had no shelter to protect him from the rain, no real clothing to protect him from the elements, he would become sick and maybe bad enough to get hypothermia and die from it. Maybe he deserved it. Those were the thoughts which made him angry. His anger only grew when he felt something hard poking at his exposed stomach from the ruined shirt he wore. He pushed himself to sit up, and was startled when a Murkrow hopped back surprised at him being alive despite the sight he must have been. Tresk was more surprised a Mandibuzz wasn't what was pecking at him, or a Vullaby. Either way to look at it, he was being pecked at by a scavenging Pokemon looking for food. It seemed ironic to him that the Pokemon he had asked for to be his first was the kind of Pokemon which might have eaten him alive if he didn't react to being pecked at.

Tresk reached out to the Murkrow as if the scavenger Pokemon had chosen him despite his state, only to get his finger pecked at.

"Ah! Damn it you stupid bird! I'm not your meal!"

Murkrow hopped back and took off, flying up to perch itself on the branch of a tree nearby, only to reach into a hole dug in the trunk. Murkrow flew back down beside Tresk and placed down...the evolution stone it required to evolve.

"You're too young to use the stone yourself to evolve? Or too weak? Well, not like I can help you. I don't even have Pokeballs to work with. I don't have any of my stuff, like my bag to shove you in and carry you in."

Murkrow seemed to understand his words, but flapped up to his shoulder and perched itself there as if directing him to take Murkrow with him. When he just sat there confused and stupidly staring at Murkrow, it decided to dig its talons into his shoulder it was perched on to which he shouted.

"Stop hurting me you stupid damn bird!"

Murkrow called out and flapped its wings in a happy manner. It was having fun beating him up.

"Whatever. Where do you want to go?"

Murkrow gave him a confused expression to which he sighed.

"I'm not a creature of night time like you, stupid Pokemon. I need sleep. Unless there's a place for me to safely go to and sleep, I'm going to take a rest at the bottom of that tree you've put your stuff in. You might as well get back up there and rest until morning, because I'm not going anywhere without some rest."

He walked over to the base of the tree and started sitting back down. With less space to perch on his shoulder, the Murkrow flew up to the branch above that it was perched on before, but looked down on his with a sour expression. Murkrow was angry. It dropped back down off of the branch and drove its beak against his stomach in a way that hurt like mad.

"Damn...it..."

Tresk reached out and grabbed Murkrow before it flew off and started trying to rip the bird apart, but Murkrow gave him an even angrier expression. He realized something when he saw the expression on Murkrow's face. He was the same as it. He wasn't literally a Pokemon, but the personalities were already the same. Murkrow was bullying him and enjoying it. It was a selfish scavenger Pokemon which stole from people and other Pokemon. It was needlessly violent. All of those features of Murkrow's personality reflected him completely.

"Fine...fine... let's see if we can't find a place for me to get taken care of after taking that hit. Maybe one of those zone places is nearby..."

Instead of letting the Murkrow dig its talons into his shoulder again, while he had hold of it, he held the annoying bird to his chest and carried it as he walked. Murkrow might be taking it the wrong way of him being caring toward it, but he was just too tired to deal with more pain from it or annoyance. It boggled his mind how irritating how his own actions were when used against him.

It took about ten minutes of walking before there was a break in the trees, revealing a large opening to his left through a gate...which revealed that he arrived at the dark type zone. He couldn't even do the zone challenge in his situation because he didn't have his trainer card, but there was no point in doing the challenge. He was already an escaped criminal. Only other criminals, and maybe not even them would accept him among them.

He was about to walk into the zone anyway so that he could receive healing from the Murkrow, but he was afraid of being brought back to jail. It was a cold night, he was aching from where the Murkrow essentially drill pecked him, and he was exhausted. He just wanted to get some decent rest. Was it worth it to go in there and be caught? Reported to the police and taken away? Either way, that disgusting crap the prison called food was better than nothing, the warm building was better than freezing to death through the night, and the company was less violent despite them being criminals and not a Pokemon with a bad attitude.

Tresk couldn't believe how much he was resenting the Pokemon just for the actions it had shown him. Pokemon weren't innately bad creatures, what could make a Pokemon was their trainer or the company the have. Murkrow was annoying, and a lot like he was, but it wasn't bad. Just annoying and...painful. He couldn't believe how much it still hurt from taking the beak so hard to the stomach.

"You just going to stand there all night? That Murkrow you're holding onto seems a little uncomfortable at the very least with not going anywhere."

Maybe it was a little dark for the person who approached him, but it should be pretty obvious that Tresk was wearing the torn prisoner garb.

"Well? Just going to stand there. I really don't care, but you might as well let that Murkrow go if you aren't going to go anywhere with it.

"Can you not see the prison clothes I'm wearing? I'm not a trainer...not anymore."

"Doesn't matter. You look like you're close to dying, so at least don't drag a Pokemon down with you. I really couldn't care less what you do. Prison clothes just remind me that a few friends are in there."

Tresk was confused by the person talking to him. In consideration of him badmouthing how Murkrow was being held, Tresk moved Murkrow back up to his shoulder to which he flinched again as Murkrow dug the talons back into the skin, like it was really trying to hurt him.

"Hah, reminds me of my first Murkrow. Real trouble makers those guys can be. Not very many other Pokemon like them because of their attitudes, but a good trainer can set a Murkrow straight."

The other guy, a tall person with black hair, no shirt on and tattoos covering most of his torso in a really interesting pattern really had Tresk's interest.

"Hey, before I get back to helping with their night training, I need to know a couple things about you. That is, if you are planning on getting help from the zone medical staff."

Tresk nodded his head, noticing that finally the exhaustion was at least numbing the pain from Murkrow's attack on his stomach.

"Good, at least you're obedient right now. I think it might be more from you being dead tired, but regardless...what were you in prison for?"

Tresk felt guilty again that he might have really badly injured Juez, but he sighed and answered anyway.

"This Togekiss...it belonged to the new trainer receptionist. Anyway, the Togekiss was a bit moody according to the trainer, and so I poked at it for some fun until it was about to retaliate, and I hoped the aura sphere it used would hit this other friend of mine, but I pulled this idiot that was closer in the way of the attack. I heard in court that he'd never be a trainer for the rest of his life because of what I did with the Togekiss. The one I originally intended to get hit by the attack was in the court and had told the judge about my past of being...as nasty as this stupid Murkrow to be honest. It put my sentence in the prison to 2 years. Pretty short sentence now though, considering I was the only one to escape through the cultist escape attempt."

"Rough. For that friend of yours at least. You're worse than some cultists I know. Now I really don't give a damn about you. At least you're not a murderer...unless you meant that friend of yours died from the impact of the attack. If you are a murderer, cops are coming to pick you up."

Tresk had heard of Juez living through it, but not awake yet when he last heard...maybe Juez had died as a result...but Juez wasn't dead as far as he knew.

"Well, as far as I know the guy isn't dead. Kinda want to apologize to him."

"Alright. Terrible brat, but you pass so far. Second question. Did you finish your registration in the city? As long as you registered as a trainer there, we can help you out a little."

"Yeah, just no starter Pokemon. Was going to lie that I'm fifteen, but the one I wanted to nail with Togekiss' attack told the receptionist we were all seventeen."

"You really are as scummy as a Muk aren't you. Damn, I feel sorry for anyone you call a friend. Anyway, since you're registered as a trainer, we can reprint your trainer card so you can do your zone challenge like normal if you want, we'll give you a few Pokeballs so you can put the Murkrow somewhere it won't turn you into Mandibuzz food. Now, last question. What is your goal if you receive our help? Keep in mind that even if we renew your trainer card, you'll still strike at other zones as a criminal and they would call the police on you. We don't really care here. Other options would be to join our battle trainers for newbies to fight here, or leave and do whatever else. You ever return here as a cultist though, and we're not going to give you any help. Ah, and I might as well ask in case you choose the option to work in this zone with us. Have you met Champion Xhasca or her sister Xharye? If you have, then you can't work here. They visit the zones often for information collection and handle calls about criminal attacks, so you'd be found out right away."

The one option he felt would work out somehow, was blocked behind a catch that he obviously failed at. He had met both of those sisters. Unless he had his trainer identification altered and his body changed enough he wouldn't be recognizable, he would be caught.

"Isn't there like a Ditto thing that can force transform me to look different enough not to catch attention? Then hack and get my trainer card to match my new description."

"Punk, you're asking for way too much, but then, that just reminds me of the Murkrow on your shoulder. If this means your answer is you want to work for this zone, then follow me. We'll see if my Zoroark's illusion ability will do it right?"

Tresk was surprised to hear about the guy in front of him having a Zoroark, but then, he gave the kind of feeling that he was an incredibly powerful trainer in the dark type zone. He had all kinds of authoritative sense to him. He was taller, he was definitely strong, and he was full of confidence, and the part about him that commanded most authority, was that his confidence felt it was backed up by real ability.

Tresk for the first time felt...he might be respecting someone. Of course the guy with the Garchomp at the jail was also impressive. But how was he doing with that monster of a dragon at the champion's side blocking him off from leaving the prison?

Tresk followed the man in until they reached an area where it was barely visible, but there were dark type Pokemon battling each other.

"Hey you two, it's a little late for those Pokemon. Take it easy. Oh right, this kid...I forgot to ask your name, kid."

"Tresk. Thanks again for this help you're offering..."

"Tresk? Like from the dark elite trainer family of Johto? That's pretty neat. Would be fun if you turn out as good as that family."

Tresk felt like it was a jab at him. His father's bloodline had been in the dark type elite four for the longest time in Johto, but his father stopped the tradition because of Tresk's mother suggesting they follow the lead of the champion of the league at the time, Yuuka's parents. Tresk really hated Yuuka because of their influence on his mother, but he was just too tired to stay angry for more than a few seconds.

"Okay, keep on going..."

The person ahead of Tresk finally stopped again when there was some light from torches showing...a medical zone. Were they actually going to heal him first, or was the guy with the Zoroark going to have his Zoroark do the work on him there? There were a lot of heavily injured people and Pokemon in the medical area, with plenty of sickening scents hanging in the air. Tresk wanted to turn away and throw up, but he was stronger than that. He would prove himself worthy of working in the zone.

"Okay, can Sev take care of this kid's current issues before we test Zoroark's forced illusion on him?"

"What kind of issues?"

A tall woman who at first almost seemed naked, but she was wearing a sport top and bottom and was covered with tattoos the same way as the other person walked forward and took a close look at Tresk, showing that she had a captivating beautiful face along with her great shape. Tresk felt his heart start a heavy thrum.

"The Murkrow on his shoulder has been digging in like his shoulder's made of steel, so there might be a wound there if not heavy bruise damage. He's also showing sign that he might have taken a few more hits. He's also exhausted, so maybe force a potion down his throat or something. When you're done with him and he's awake, send him over to where I do new lessons. Wouldn't hurt to check the Murkrow either."

She chuckled as the man left and looked Tresk over.

"You're really scrawny kid. I make it a point to at least know my patients' names, so tell me your name before I get to work."

"Tresk."

He could barely get that out normally. Between his heart beating like crazy and the pain and exhaustion flooding over him, he was surprised his body wasn't knocking his conscious out of him. Maybe the pain was what was keeping him awake.

At least he could feel his body warming up a little from the heat of the torches around them.

Sev sat him down in a spot near a large machine which seemed to be used for things like stopping Pokemon from destroying the area, but Tresk didn't really care at the current situation. He just tried his best to stay awake. It didn't take much before it so happened that Sev stabbed him with something in the leg that really kept him awake, and in more pain than before.

"Going to hurt even more than before for a little while, but even you must know the saying that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, think those kind of happy thoughts, because you're going to hurt even more before you get better. Getting rid of bruise damage is terrible after all. Glad I'm not doing it to myself again today. It was brutal earlier. Just...bite onto the scrap of what's left of your shirt instead of screaming bloody murder, 'kay?"

She pulled the shirt up over his head and shoved it against his chest while she grabbed something else with her other hand. Something...that looked molten. There was no way something like that could cure a burn, from first look Tresk thought, but she clapped it against his shoulder, and Murkrow repositioned itself on the cloth beside him. It played with the cloth of the safe zone because of how awkward it was the talons stuck into the blanket.

The pain that surged through him from the molten rock was like taking that fire blast from earlier, only on a specific spot. Was that stone burning through him? That was his first thought, but after about a minute, she pulled it away and moved to his front, putting the stone away and grabbing something else, something that seemed like a looking glass. She looked through what he saw above as a mirror, and she sighed.

"Burst some of the area around your intestines. I suppose you'll want to eat again some time in your future right? Because then I'll have to get you to swallow on the most putrid medicine in existence. Worse than that buck-whatever it was crap. That stuff doesn't even work, but this...this while it tastes like rot and worms fixes up any damage inside of you."

While she explained that, he was scared of her description of the medicine he would have to take, but he was also amazed that his shoulder was essentially fully healed where the bruise was. There wasn't even a sign of the burning stone leaving a mark on him.

"Silence usually means yes, so, here's your medicine. Don't puke it back up. Most people do. This stuff's really valuable though, so don't waste it. Oh, and don't chew it. It becomes dangerous if chewed. Just swallow it back even if it feels like it'll suffocate you. Do your best to swallow it down despite how huge it is. Might as well say your throat virginity is gone from taking this medicine."

She shoved the medicine in his mouth and he choked it down his throat. He really thought he would suffocate on it, but somehow...it made its way through to his digestive system and he could smell and taste like his insides were rotting. Was the medicine something that healed by killing? All of the medicine they used was messed up beyond belief. Regular doctors used needles, nauseous fluids and pads as well as psychic type Pokemon to heal their human patients, but this tribal crap...while he hated it, it worked better and faster than the regular medical stuff. It was disgusting and crazy painful, but it was working. He really couldn't complain at all that they were using their valuable medical supplies to heal him. After all...he was supposed to be in prison.

He was laughing a little on the inside though. His mouth jaw and throat were sore from the large gob of medicine forced down his throat, and it reminded him of the vulgar wording Sev used for the process he would feel. He hoped that he would never have to take anything that massive down his throat ever again.

"Okay...and the scratches on your legs are fine. The little scratches all over you will heal with time, and it's possible Zoroark's illusion ability will heal that up. All your big medical problems are dealt with. Show how grateful you are to zone champ Yule when you talk to him again. Oh, and if Zoroark doesn't fix up your scratches and you want to look pretty, maybe I'll hire a ditto from the normal zone to turn you into a pretty girl. Just think it over, 'kay?"

Tresk shivered at how blunt everything she said was. She was gorgeous, but she was...it was like she had a man's brain inside her head. Any sense of attraction to her was gone through the whole procedure. His heart was still beating hard, but it was out of fear instead of attraction.

"Ah right, I was supposed to take you to the training zone. Crap, that guy demands more than my ex husband. Can't say I'm disappointed though. Yule's the best guy I've had."

Tresk...really didn't want to hear any more from her. Thankfully she was quiet through the walk to the training zone, which surprised him. Through a heavily damaged opening in some trees, there was a cliff face which opened up to a building inside the cliff which was lit up inside.

"Oh, you're going to want to be careful of this one crazy girl that was here with Xharye before. Xharye brushed it over as her Togekiss that blew that opening out of the trees, but it was definitely that girl with her that used the aura sphere. No regular Pokemon could use that kind of power. Oh, and in case you want to know how we know about her, the cult talks to some of ours here sometimes and have been spreading that this chick from Xhova can be caught in a Pokeball and can used nearly any Pokemon move. She put most of the recent captures of cultists behind bars. Terrifying kid honestly. I hope she doesn't return here any time soon. Gave me chills seeing her and Xharye come out of this abandoned cult base."

Tresk's mind filled with questions about what he just heard, but all he really knew was that it could only have been Naeya. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the familiar voice of the man who led him into the zone. He was Yule, the champion of the dark zone.

"Time to have a nice little change huh? Hope you're happy with what he does to you."


	24. Chapter 24

Naeya sighed as she watched Juieh and ~~~~~ battle their Pokemon. They were extremely clumsy, and it was rubbing off on their Pokemon very quickly. ~~~~~'s Pokemon egg was resting on Naeya's lap. Little did ~~~~~ know, Naeya only needed to be near a Pokemon for them to grow enough inside the egg to grow close to hatching.

Stantler readied herself to charge in a double edge attack against the Rufflet ~~~~~ had caught earlier in the morning. Rufflet hopped up into the air to avoid the attack, and...embarrassingly managed to miss an aerial ace attack. How was the Pokemon clumsy enough to miss an unmissable attack?

Naeya couldn't watch it any longer. She stood up, and motioned her finger in the way that she used her psychic energy to call the Pokemon back to their Pokeballs. She walked in between where the battle was happening before while holding onto the egg and she looked from Juieh to ~~~~~ and sighed again.

"You're both aiming way too far beyond your capability, and it's showing as your Pokemon becoming incredibly clumsy. I've never heard of a Pokemon missing aerial ace, but Rufflet just did. Stantler missed Rufflet when it's recorded as the largest Rufflet that has been seen. Neither Pokemon are innately this inaccurate or clumsy. It's you pushing them to do techniques you haven't taught them properly yet. Knowing moves your Pokemon can learn and telling them to use them without teaching them is what makes it impossible for them to land attacks that should hit. You need to grow with your Pokemon, okay? Don't fight each other for a while, and maybe I'll help teach your Pokemon attacks they don't yet know. Today, me and my team are relaxing because we have worked very hard so far and our zone challenge is done here. We aren't leaving until both of you complete your zone challenge, so buckle down and get ready for a very long day."

~~~~~ was convinced Naeya was some kind of demon with how tough she was in coaching them to learn. She had already taught them the capabilities their Pokemon could have, and what moves they could learn, now she was teaching them that the Pokemon need to learn the moves properly to use them properly. Many moves and attacks were normally learned through technical machines or diagram cloths passed through families as sacred moves for their Pokemon to learn.

Naeya knew so much about Pokemon, it was baffling she grew up in a community that didn't teach much about Pokemon at all.

"I'll show you how I'll teach Lopunny to use aerial ace, so that Lopunny can teach Rufflet how to use it. Bouffalant already knows how to use double edge, so she can teach it to Stantler. For now, you are training without battling. I'll only have them teach your Pokemon if you don't get anywhere after half an hour."

First up, was Naeya teaching Lopunny how to use aerial ace. A normal type jack rabbit Pokemon learning a flying type move. While its mega-evolution added fighting type. No, it was actually quite common for nimble Pokemon to learn how to use aerial ace. Plenty of fighting types could learn it as well.

Naeya motioned Lopunny to the battle ground where Rufflet and Stantler were battling before. After motioning her over, Naeya took a step away from Lopunny and started instructing her vocally.

"Okay Lopunny, think of your aerial ace attack as the beginning of your high jump kick attack, and follow my lead."

After saying those words, Naeya faced side way from Lopunny so she could see as much of the attack as possible. Naeya readied herself for a stationary flip into the air, and then cut her legs down to the ground in a sharp and quick kick. Her kick landed against the ground with a light rumble. It startled Juieh and ~~~~~ quite a lot, telling them that was how powerful a kick from Naeya should be expected to be, and waited for Lopunny to perform the same attack. Lopunny performed the same attack nearly perfectly, but the resulting impact with the ground didn't make it rumble at all. It only reminded everyone how powerful Naeya was.

"The key to the aerial ace attack, is that it's used close to the enemy so that it won't miss. It's performed quickly and in a way so that the enemy can't avoid the attack."

Lopunny nodded her head and made her way back to where she was resting before. Naeya looked back at Juieh and ~~~~~ before heading back to where she was sitting before, and she was reminded that she performed the attack while holding onto the egg...well, at least when the egg would hatch, if the Pokemon was compatible, it would know how to perform aerial ace right away. The Pokemon inside was nearly ready to hatch, and would be ready to come out by the end of the day.

Juieh and ~~~~~ got to work right away. They both called out all three of their normal type Pokemon and started trying to coach them. Juieh and ~~~~~ were too clumsy to physically teach their Pokemon how to learn their attacks, but they tried anyway. The result was...hilarious. The short cut would be to ask other trainers or Naeya to have their Pokemon teach the techniques from Pokemon to Pokemon. That was what they were supposed to learn from the current lesson, but the resulting embarrassment was too entertaining to stop.

Yuuka showed up while they were training with their Pokemon, carrying a pack of water for the trainers and their Pokemon. She was also wearing a sun hat to protect her from the heat of the blazing bright day. It were as if every Pokemon with the sunny day move and drought ability were in battle all day. It was almost obnoxious. Almost. The heat was welcome after the cold of the previous night.

"I'm also...delivering a message. For you Naeya. Xhasca wants to warn you that Tresk escaped from jail. While it's a good idea for all of us to know, at least it was only him that escaped from jail right?"

Yuuka had become a little more confident in her speaking since joining the normal zone caretakers.

"Oh, and before I pass that along to Juieh and ~~~~~, she also mentioned she would like you to help heal an injured Garchomp. The Garchomp won't be at the human hospital or the Pokecenter, but at the Pokemon hospital which is located beside the Pokecenter. The Garchomp...was injured very bad by one of her Pokemon. Otherwise, she would have told you in person, she said."

Naeya nodded her head. She asked her Pokemon team if any of them wanted to come along, to which only Greninja responded. Greninja was growing bored of watching the bad training. Even Yuuka knew enough to help them train.

Naeya took Greninja's hand and teleported to the gate, and walked on through, and into the city. Greninja let go of her hand and they walked side by side down the streets. For them, it didn't take long to find the Pokemon hospital. It was a building with the same design as a Pokecenter, only around twenty times taller...it was a massive building of nearly forty floors. Not that it was unexpected considering most buildings in the city had more than twenty floors. The exceptions were the Pokecenter and the city hall. The Pokecenter was almost completely normal, while the City hall while impressive in shape and size, was only about ten floors above the ground. There was also apparently underground floors, so perhaps it was around as large as the other buildings...

The two walked in through the door to a surprisingly quiet lobby room. There was a receptionist, a PC for public use in exchanging the owned Pokemon by the trainer, and a wonder trade terminal, which would send a single Pokemon to another trainer anywhere else in the world for whatever that person was inclined to trade.

Naeya and Greninja walked forward to the reception where they were noticed as soon as they were close. The woman looked up and seemed like a person who didn't know what they were doing.

"Hello, my name is Naeya. I was requested to see an injured Garchomp? The request came from Xhasca by the way."

The woman panicked when she realized the kind of person who was there at the reception.

"Right! Extreme case injuries on the thirty eighth floor, room 3820. I am curious how a human can heal such wounds...but everyone trusts Champion Xhasca to offer an answer where she can."

Naeya could heal nearly any injury, the only thing she couldn't cure was death. As long as Garchomp was still alive, it would make it through fine. It wasn't a good idea to show off her ability in action, but she had a feeling if Garchomp had other medical experts around, they wouldn't leave it all to her and she would have to show them her ability.

After nodding in thanks to the information from the receptionist, she walked over to the elevator door and when the door opened, she stepped into the empty space, holding it open for Greninja until she was in. They ascended the building very quickly, and when the door opened, the situation had become...excessively stressful. The amount of people running around, the amount of sickness and things that drove a headache into Naeya, she sent out a full range and power heal pulse through the ward which not only gave her the reaction that those whose wounds were minimal, the power also paused everyone else from moving around for a short time. Everyone looked around as if trying to find a legendary Pokemon who visited the hospital. Well, it just arrived through the elevator.

Naeya's headache subsided a little, so she started making her way around the floor. It took about a minute to find the room where there were four doctors trying to hold back a Garchomp's tail from smacking them around, but the Garchomp was...missing a lot of body. It was in a lot of pain.

Naeya walked into the room and told the doctors to leave.

"Who are you?! There was no notice of a trainer visitor to this Pokemon! This Pokemon belonged to a leader in the cult, are you related to them?"

"No, though I do wonder how Xhasca would react to hearing that kind of accusation toward her fiancee. She asked me over here to see if I could do anything for Garchomp after one of her Pokemon went and overdid it. My work requires a lot less physical presence, so please leave the room for a minute or two. I'm sure there are other Pokemon that could use your help right now."

They kept trying to interrupt her, but she stopped them with her psychic every time they tried, and it eventually convinced them they had no choice. They had to listen to her. When they left the room, Naeya closed the door with her energy. Greninja looked on Garchomp with a sad and pitying gaze. Garchomp was in an incredible amount of pain, and even Naeya could feel that pain flowing through to her as she swept her energy over it to find out more about the situation.

Both arms and legs were hacked off with a fairy type energy, far more powerful than other Pokemon she had been in contact with so far. The energy reminded her of the Pokemon she saw with Xhasca which resembled the legendary Pokemon of the region. There were many other small scratches and small wounds gathered over time, to which Naeya felt even more saddened about the Garchomp. So much pain, all because of a bad trainer pushing it in a way it shouldn't.

Garchomp in other cases was about average as a Garchomp could be considered. Female, had sand force ability, and was currently in an angry and vengeant mood for the missing limbs. That mood wouldn't last long with Naeya handling the care of Garchomp, but she wondered just what drove the other Pokemon to be so rough.

Naeya pushed her energy to freeze Garchomp's movements and start talking to her mind.

 _Hello Garchomp. My name is Naeya, and I'm here to help you. I can tell just how much pain you're in, so I'm going to need you to not move while I use my abilities to heal you. There's a catch here. I will only heal you if you forget about avenging your lost battle. The other Pokemon stays with a human very important to me._

Naeya walked up beside Garchomp and transformed into her Mew form in order to keep hold of her energies better. Garchomp turned its face toward her and saw her, and became flustered.

 _Need to...! Need to get them all free! Free master, hurt one who hurt me!_

Naeya sighed.

 _I said, calm!_

She pushed her energy over her to convince Garchomp's energy to calm down.

 _Your old master is no longer your master. He is a criminal who has been locked away for doing bad things. If you are determined to serve a master, I have been acting as a trainer, and offer the chance to travel with me after I restore you. You have to stay calm though._

After saying what she did, Garchomp started crying, tears falling to the large soft floor bedding she was laying on. Garchomp nodded her head when she realized she had no other choice. It was either listen and obey her, or remain without limbs.

Naeya finally got to work with the energy, using her forced transform to restore Garchomp to a full version of herself. It took about five minutes for the energy to finish the work. Naeya was glad that the medical team hadn't returned, to which she sighed in relief. After finishing healing Garchomp, she transformed back to her human form, and let go of holding Garchomp down. Garchomp pushed herself up and turned to look at Naeya's human form.

 _Will serve new master. Anything master want?_

Naeya shook her head gently.

"I don't need anything of you right now. I'm also not a master. I'm a trainer and Pokemon myself. I don't collect servants. I welcome friends. You can join me as a friend, but not as a servant. The choice is yours. Join me as a friend, or I will release you to the wilds of the mountain region you used to call home."

Garchomp thought about it for a few seconds before leaning forward and rubbing her smooth snout against Naeya's cheek.

 _Friend...sounds good._

Naeya smiled and used her energy to open the door. Two people from the previous medical team were leaning in listening through the door.

"H-how?! Garchomp was wounded all over and missing the arms and legs!"

"Special ability unique to me. Are there other Pokemon in such condition I can help before returning to my zone challenge? I'll have to limit my energy to this floor today."

The medical staff were shocked to hear it, but after she offered to use her power to heal other Pokemon, they started leading the way. Garchomp and Greninja followed her into the other rooms. They helped her keep the other Pokemon calm, and within an hour, the entire floor was healed of injury. Healing all of those Pokemon really drained Naeya, but she still had plenty of energy for a teleport of her Greninja and Garchomp. She left the hospital with the faces of many happy medical staff and Pokemon in her mind. She really helped a lot of people and Pokemon that afternoon.

The attention she had with Greninja wasn't nearly as noticeable as it was with Garchomp included. Walking the streets to the gate outside of town reminded her that Garchomp were rather rare, and she was actually with a famous one. She might not be as recognizable without all of the wounds, so it shouldn't draw too much attention, but Naeya felt pressured by the stares her and the Pokemon received.

Finally after arriving at the gate, she had them round to a spot where they wouldn't be seen teleporting away, to which she immediately made use of the teleport to where the training for Juieh and ~~~~~ had been going on earlier.

"Aahh!"

Yuuka screamed as reaction to them showing up.

"It's been... Sheesh, you're pushing yourself, aren't you?"

Naeya nodded her head in agreement.

"You're right. I healed all of the Pokemon on the entire floor Garchomp was on. Oh, and Garchomp decided to join my team. Oh right, I left my bag here while doing all that, so I didn't have a Pokeball to offer Garchomp."

Yuuka got more worked up over hearing how much Naeya really pushed herself.

"I just thought you were fast for what you did, but you also adopted the Garchomp and healed all of the other Pokemon on the floor?! Are you trying to make all of us worry about you?! Are you even thinking about your relationship with Xhasca when you push yourself so much?!"

Yuuka was almost in tears from shouting at Naeya. It had drawn the attention of Juieh and ~~~~~, their Pokemon pausing from their current training. The rest of Naeya's team also looked on at the current situation, concerned that Naeya was being yelled at.

"I'm fine, just a little tired. Nothing tonight's sleep won't heal. My ability only makes me tired. If anything I'd be worried about not being able to dodge Pokeballs thrown at me from the bushes, but it won't matter. The only sign that would show right now is the Pokeball opening instead of staying shut like it's supposed to with other humans. We really don't need ~~~~~ finding out too much about me so soon, so please keep it quiet."

"Stop it Naeya! I didn't mind that you were a little distant with me despite how much I've always liked you, but now you have someone precious to you and you're putting yourself in so much danger...! It hurts me so much in the heart to hear every little bit that you push yourself...I love you so much, so I just wish you would love yourself enough to take as good care of yourself as possible. I know you're really a Pokemon and extremely powerful, but it's when you're tired you're most vulnerable. Naeya...! I'm taking you over to the safe area and you're resting now darn it!"

Naeya's expression dropped and her mind went blank, only to continually repeat the words Yuuka had said. She had never been so passionate about anything she said before, and she never talked about anything like love before. Naeya felt guilt for obliviously continuing on and hurting Yuuka for so long. She felt guilt that she hadn't noticed Yuuka's feelings. The emotional situation woke Naeya up more than enough to realize how intense the situation was, so while Yuuka stood there with an adamant expression that she was taking charge of the situation, Naeya grabbed her in a gentle hug and sighed after realizing she'd been holding her breath for that entire release of Yuuka's emotions.

"Thank you Yuuka. Because sorry is depressing with all of the good you've been surrounding yourself in lately. I do have to say sorry though. I'm sorry I never noticed. I promise, that I'll take much better care of myself from now on. I didn't realize how much you were worried about me."

Yuuka had been speaking loud enough through her passionate words that ~~~~~ definitely heard the line about Naeya being a powerful Pokemon, but it didn't matter at the moment. At the moment, Naeya had to make sure Yuuka was appeased with Naeya recovering from her exhaustion. After quickly returning her normal type team and Seadra to their Pokeballs, Naeya realized that she now had seven Pokemon with her, which was one too many to be allowed. Regardless, she offered a Pokeball to Garchomp, which Garchomp gladly entered.

As soon as Garchomp finished occupying the Pokeball, a call sounded from Naeya's Pokedex in her bag, which she answered only to find that the Pokedex was alerting her that she had to either send in a Pokemon to the lab in the city to be cared for with the other extra Pokemon of the trainers who had many, or to talk to the professor. Naeya tapped the option to talk to the professor.

"I'm clearing you of having a limit Naeya. Don't even worry about the Pokedex alerting you when you add to your limit, because I just disabled it. You're helping with my research so much and the zone league is tight enough that you'll never misuse having all of your Pokemon with you at the same time. I do want to ask you to be careful though. Don't gather enough Pokemon to run your own zone, because that would be around forty Pokemon in your active party, and a little too ridiculous to keep track of for anyone, even you. At some point, you might have to start parting ways with other Pokemon who join you. Just a warning. You're good for now though. Enjoy being the only trainer beyond the regulated amount of Pokemon on your team. Just remember the zone rule of not gathering more than three from each zone."

After finishing what she said, she cancelled the call, stunning everyone who heard the call.

"The only person beyond the limit? Even champions can't keep more than six Pokemon with them at a time, Naeya, you have seven Pokemon with you!"

Naeya thought about it, and she realized that there was another shocking bit of information she recalled. Seadra was her only Pokemon which wasn't finished evolving among her gathered.


	25. Chapter 25

"Daaamn. This feels way too weird. Definitely more into the idea of the ditto changing me into a girl than being this disproportionate."

After he said the one complex word, Sev and Yule gave Tresk their confused expressions.

"I think you look not too bad. What did you mean by that last word?"

"I mean that I have way too long of arms and legs for my body. The proportions and size are all ridiculous. I feel disgusting more than the giant glob of medicine Sev had me swallow. I feel like I've been stretched out by a Machamp on steroids."

Sev laughed at how he said it, and Tresk blushed in embarrassment as he rewound the words he said in his head. The pervert woman was corrupting him.

"Well, if you go through with the Ditto thing and become a girl, you'll be the same as Sev. Her transformation went great. You'll only be the same as her though if you don't keep your boy bits. Might be a little kinky with all the bits down there. Just saying the invitation would be welcome."

Tresk knew he was swarmed by perverts as they mentioned it. Zoroark had done his job, but the job only made him feel like he was a midget with giant limbs. That was disturbing on too many levels. Especially when he was a little taller than average before the illusion transformation. Zoroark couldn't make drastic changes to the body, so Tresk wasn't surprised the transformation was bad.

"Hey, you remember that cute chick with Xharye the other day breaking out of here? Apparently she can use any kind of Pokemon move. Wonder how she would do using transform on him."

"Please don't involve Naeya with me. She helped put me behind bars."

"You know her?"

"I wish I didn't after hearing what you said about her before. So she's basically a Pokemon and I grew up with that? What if she infected me with some messed up Pokemon disease? What if I can be caught in a Pokeball too because of her?"

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about that. Only idiots who would throw a Pokeball at a person are the cult and their only target is that girl. Well, they also want to kill off Xharye and her sister, which we aren't fond of. Xharye's been a good friend of ours for a long time. Xhasca didn't really talk to us during her challenge of the zone and those of us who are still here from then are basically stuck being afraid of her. Tore through our challenge like nothing with a single Pokemon. The mother Zoroark to my buddy here. Back during her challenge days, she was so focused and determined to win through the zone challenges that she never lost a single battle. Xharye never lost a battle, but she's the total ditz type. She was friendly and fun the entire time. Losing either of them to the cult's messed up plan is the last thing we want to happen. Because Xharye's the best friend we've had, and there wouldn't be enough power to hold off the cult without Xhasca these days."

"Never mind Xhasca being the biggest threat to them! I heard from a cultist who was waiting to help the others escape say that she used a Pokemon that looked like a small version of Vescalla and it tore apart their strongest fighter's Garchomp. Even with that Pokemon, she's nowhere near as trouble to them as that girl. Apparently she can use her abilities to do mass effect dazzling gleams, or discharges, or heat waves. Girl be a living weapon is what she is. She dealt with everyone in this base we're in, remember? Three hundred of the cult were in here. All of that from the effect of a single dazzling gleam. Try telling me that Xhasca is still the strongest trainer with that kind of power behind that girl."

Sev was convinced Naeya had become some kind of God among Pokemon. What was her form as a Pokemon, Arceus? Hearing what she was capable of, Tresk wouldn't put the possibility past her. Was it real though? Was that quiet and ridiculous smart girl really that strong? Was he really pushing her the same way he pushed the Togekiss? It made him terrified of the possibility of him pushing her as far as the Togekiss, glad that she had the patience with him that she hadn't reacted the same as the Togekiss. He definitely needed to be careful to not let her see him out of jail, because he might see her at her worst.

"Naeya...I usually tell people that she was this super quiet and annoying know it all, but she just annoyed me with how perfect she was. Her being quiet was cute, but it annoyed me that she wasn't typical like the other girls, socializing and flirting with anyone. It annoyed me that she could answer literally any question. That she even knew so much about Pokemon even when we didn't have Pokemon lessons in our school on that small hick island. She learned so much and retained it all from the lessons her parents and Juez' parents gave her as far as their Pokedex and what they had experienced as trainers. Naeya...she was annoying to me, but maybe there was more than just annoyance I felt toward her."

Sev was ready to jeer at it, but Yule stopped her from turning the sentimental moment sour. Yule could tell that it was the first big step for Tresk in growing from his bad nature. Bad personality and attitude. It was a chance for Tresk to start considering others and drop his greed enough to be normal.

"Ugh, I feel sick. Must be that glob of whatever it was you made me swallow, Sev. I'm too tired to keep talking about all this. If the Ditto gets here before I wake up, hit me or whatever to get me up for that. Oh, and if Ditto needs to know how much to change me, I'd prefer as little noticeable chest as possible. Because it'll feel weird to have those on me and not in front of me."

"They're more sensitive when they're smaller. That was what I requested of Ditto first too, but it's too much for someone who was once a dude. Trust me, at least a b cup kid, or you're going to be hurting something fierce while wearing anything over them."

Tresk sighed and was about to leave them, but walking was awkward and he didn't know where he was allowed to sleep.

"Damn walking like this is so awkward. Where uh...where can I go to sleep?"

Tresk really hated it, that he was starting to talk like Yuuka. That he was regretting feeling how he did about Naeya. He felt more sorry than ever about what he did to Juez. He...wanted another chance to be friends with them. If it would cost him being the person he was, then maybe it was worth it. He didn't like the idea of pushing people away anymore. Especially Naeya now that he knew how strong she was. Somehow, he always felt there was something too out of place with her. Now he knew.

Yule led Tresk up through the abandoned base to a sleeping quarters room with a lot of beds, and pushed Tresk onto a bed in the middle of a bunch of them that looked and smelled like they belonged to girls.

"You're in the girls' dorm so to say. Since you're becoming one. It'll keep us organized at least that much. There's only Sev and about four other girls as regulars, but other trainers who use the dorm on their zone challenge will also sleep in here. Hopefully those kids from the island you mentioned coming from don't come here, 'cause if that Naeya kid you've been mentioning comes here and realizes we're using the place, she might go crazy or whatever."

"Eh, I doubt she's that crazy. Just crazy strong. She's too calm and kind to do anything like ruin the place. You're just using the place out of convenience right? No harm no foul. You're giving your zone's visitors a warm place to stay instead of forcing them to camp out. Sounds like luxury to me. Does make me feel a little awkward that until a few days ago it was cultists sleeping in these beds, but what difference does it make who slept in the bed unless they're as perverted as Sev, right?"

Yule really started laughing when Tresk made the joke and started sitting on the bed. He seemed like he might pop a blood vessel from laughing so hard, but after he got it out of his system, he brushed laugh tears from his eyes and gave Tresk a happy smile.

"You're going to fit in around here just fine kid. You might want to think up another name for yourself after your transformation tomorrow by the way. Or I'll come up with one for you and you might not like it. Gotta remember that Sev thinks up a bunch of crazy names too so we might pick one of hers. Your choice takes priority, but if nobody likes it on you, we'll choose from other names suggested. It was the same way with Sev, but since she had that same name before, everyone just decided to stick with it. Best unisex name I've heard."

"Ah, question since I'm disturbingly curious about it...did you have...the relationship you have with her before her transformation?"

He winked and turned around. Just barely still able to be heard, he shouted.

"Any hole is good with me pretty boy."

Tresk shook his head and laid back on the bed. He was so incredibly exhausted he wouldn't be surprised that he might experience something bad through his sleep, but he just wasn't worried about it anymore. It didn't matter what happened to him anymore. He still had his greed, but his greed was aimed for something else now. Now it was aimed at the idea of him being able to rebuild his friendship as a new person with Naeya Yuuka and Juez. He needed to change the way he thought quite a bit, but it would be worth it. It would definitely be worth it. There were too many influential people around him now to be the way he was before. Too many strong people.

The situation for him now was to either suffer the same old, or lose himself in favour of the better and less painful future he could have.

He closed his eyes and drowned in the sensation of becoming a girl. That his entire past with them might change if he had been female back then too. By the time the dream ended, Tresk's mind had accepted being female, and going by the same name his mother had. Treiya.

"Damn, one second later and I would have taken his first. Whatever. Hey kid, have a name picked out?"

Treiya sat up from the bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She yawned and nodded her head. She stretched a little and remembered how messed up her body had become the night before.

"I'm inheriting Mom's name, Treiya. I don't care what everyone else thinks, that's the only name I'll respond to."

She looked ahead at Yule, who had his pants down, over her on the bed. She shoved him off of the bed and stepped out. She didn't have nearly any balance on her legs.

"Ah, you really didn't need to leave the bed. The Ditto's waiting to start. It'll copy whatever image you have for yourself in your mind if you have it thought out. Oh, and thanks for not kicking me in the jewels. Some guys have done that with me over them. Really damn hurts you know."

"Don't know. Don't want to know. Never will if Ditto does the job right."

After she said it, Yule smiled at her.

"Decided to go full girl then? So then, mind joining with the rest of the zone's extra activity? Or you want to save yourself for a special guy or gal?"

"Special. I'm ready for you Ditto."

Treiya had it in her mind. The body she dreamt herself having as a girl if history were redone. She kept it there as steady and calm as she could, and when she felt Ditto cover her completely, outside and in, she could feel her body become like mush. It reformed and after what felt like nearly half an hour of holding the memory of the dream in her mind, she felt Ditto pull off and out of her.

"Damn thing ate your clothes kid. Did that with Sev too, should have thought of that. Here, wrap up in the bed blanket for now. Might as well let you act the pure type for a while. Jealous of whoever you choose to pop your cherry. You really made a big change you know?"

"Yeah...a lot less like Dad and much more like Mom. She was a bit shorter than average for women, had a fair complexion and, well, she didn't share a single feature with Dad. Bet you could tell right away with how Ditto was reshaping me."

"Ah, darn, might want to call out your Murkrow and have it see you as you are now."

Treiya finished tying up the blanket in a way it hung over her body enough that at least Yule couldn't see it. She didn't want to know what the limit was for how much he could hold back from using his junk.

She grabbed up Murkrow's Pokeball from the bed by the pillow and tapped the button of the ball to call Murkrow out, and it landed on the same shoulder it normally dug into, except this time it seemed her body resisted the strength of Murkrow's grip. It didn't hurt at all to have Murkrow there.

"Good morning Murkrow. How did you sleep?"

Murkrow cawed its name like most Pokemon usually did, and rubbed the tip of her beak gently against the top of Treiya's smooth hair. It called again with a happy tone. The feel of Murkrow told Treiya what gender belonged to the Murkrow, and she was happy they shared the feature she changed to be. Murkrow was happy too, and when Treiya grabbed up the dusk stone from the bed beside where Murkrow's ball was, and held it up to Murkrow. Murkrow pecked the stone with the kind of attitude it wouldn't work, but the stone disappeared from Treiya's hand, and the energy of the stone moved inside of Murkrow, starting the evolution.

After a minute of suspense, Honchkrow stopped glowing, and spread her wings, happy with the result of the evolution. Honchkrow didn't have as bad an attitude it seemed already. Far more gentle, calm and kind. It were as if Honchcrow was influenced by the previous night and the dream that Treiya had which felt like she relived her entire life through the night.

"Hey, can Sev or one of the other girls come up and provide something for the kid to wear until she gets the chance to get her own clothes?"

Treiya looked at Yule to see he was intentionally facing away to fight the urge he had. He was chatting over his Pokedex at the person on the other end of the line, someone who picked up the other end.

"Yeah, sure. What kinda sizes does she have? Sev sizes, Minn sizes, Brix sizes or Ruuva sizes?"

"Uh..."

He looked back at her to get a glancing measure of the sizes, which became easier when she sat back down on the bed.

"Chest like Brix, hips like Sev, waist like Ruuva and legs like you. Nothing matches like Minn. Thankfully she didn't go twig sizes."

The woman on the other side of the line laughed.

"Alright, got it. I'll be up there in a minute to get a usable outfit for her for now. You take her into the city this afternoon to register as a trainer again? That much of a transformation from Ditto this time?"

"You should see how different...damn, I'm having a hard time controlling myself here so get up here fast or I'm leaving her alone in here."

"You have no control majority of the time, what's holding you back now?"

"She wants her first to be special."

A euphoric sigh came from the other end of the call.

"Glad she isn't a slut like the rest of us here. It'll be nice to have someone fresh around to keep us from going crazy every other night."

Treiya was trying not to pay attention, but their conversation was quite loud. She sighed in relief that she might be able to calm them down a little with her presence. As long as Yule doesn't lose his self control and take her by force, she should be fine...hopefully. Hopefully the girls weren't as crazy. She didn't know yet if Sev would go after her. It scared her that most of the trainers in the dark zone were helpless perverts. Was her virginity safe?

The immediate answer to that question was that she was safe as the other person showed up. A woman around thirty years with a slightly pudgy upper body, while her legs were strong and athletic.

"Damn. Girl got all the power spots. I didn't really believe you but damn. Now get outta here before I get you outta here."

Yule seemed relieved to have the chance to leave, and left the room.

"Damn, I'm heading upstairs to get this out. Damn rocking body. Sluts never have that perfect a bod."

The woman who joined Treiya smiled at her and shook her head at the comment and sound of Yule's footsteps rushing up to the floor above them.

"Don't mind him sweet cheeks. He's got the stamina of a Mudsdale, but he's got the attention span of a Mankey. I'm surprised he lasted more than a few seconds seeing you like that."

"He lasted through seeing me naked, so that must make things even more surprising."

She looked at her as if Treiya spoke an impossibility.

"No way..."

"Yes way. Now, I'd appreciate something other than a blanket to wear. I may not be that great a person, but I at least don't want to go out looking like the latest in ancient fashion."

"You got sass too. You're the whole damn package. Nice bit of personality and sass with rocking body and the shame enough to look for a special someone. Makes for the kind of person to make straight girls go both ways. Don't worry though. I'm already that way. And I have my self control unlike most of the people here."

Treiya felt safe enough with the woman who joined her. After a few minutes, clean clothes were picked out, each fitting snug to Treiya, like they were actually a little small. Especially in the chest. She didn't want to have a big chest, but it ended up more than she wanted when she inherited her mother's features in the dream.

"Better not to tell Brix about her top not being enough for you, she's real conscious about her breasts. Otherwise, I'd say...still better to not leave here like this. Not unless you intend to trash yourself out to the next person to see you. I'll lend you my jacket, and you can tell people someone's protecting you or something. This way you'll at least be covered enough to not get the wrong kinda looks. I'll see about scrounging up enough money to get you a decent wardrobe. Yule's a cheapskate which results in the slut clothes. So now...great, and the leather of my jacket will also stop Honchkrow from ripping your pretty shoulders apart"

Treiya was all dressed up in the...mess of fashion statement hung over her, but she would be changing that. As soon as she had the chance to get some decent clothes, she was putting the clothes on her in a bag to never wear them again. The women they belonged to could go ahead and wear them, but never again. She felt disgusting. The day ahead would be very busy. Incredibly busy. She was excited.


	26. Chapter 26

Treiya felt nervous being back in the city, but not for the reason she felt she originally would be returning to the city. She wasn't afraid of being caught when she looked like an entirely different person, but she was nervous of being seen with Yule if he had a reputation as he was, and being seen in the clothes she wore, a ragtag of slutty rags that barely kept her decently covered.

"Okay, mall first to get you some decent clothes and your hair and make up done?"

"No make up or hair work. Mom didn't wear make up, and this is how she wore her hair. I just want some clothes to replace the ones I'm wearing so I don't get a crap picture for my new trainer card."

Yule nodded his head.

"A real pure girl after all that crap before. Wonder what changed you up kid. You seemed right ready to fit in with our group, but I'm starting to feel bad recruiting you to our group of messed up peeps."

She shook her head.

"I'm starting over, but by no means does that mean my life before didn't exist. My personality won't change so easily. There's still an itch to be a prick about some things and be greedy in the usual way, but it's all being forced back nicely by...well, some things are better not to mention."

It was already the afternoon from the slow travel on Yule's Mandibuzz. Things would be quite busy in the city. It would be a good thing to occupy Treiya's mind instead of the regrets of her past self. She sighed in relief when she saw the massive mart building, and they walked inside. Yule led the way to the elevator and pressed the button for floor three, fashion for women.

When the door opened, Treiya wasn't surprised to see a lot of sparkling and clothes which over expressed, but there was also nice and calm stuff like the pretty clothes Yuuka wore, and the comfy stuff Naeya wore. There was some other stuff she could imagine other girls from school wearing, but she already knew her taste of clothes through the dream. Something between the comfy clothes Naeya wore and the very pretty clothes Yuuka wore. Ten different matching outfits along the same feel were picked out, a single travel bag and a hat for when the sun was too hot that day.

The main design of the clothes she picked out was that nothing was pants related, but there were tights and proper underwear she also added in. The clothing was along the lines of something that would show plenty of her legs, but cover enough of her so that she wouldn't need to worry about easily showing off to perverts. Her shirts had their closed tops, barely showing her cleavage, they had short sleeves, and they had seams which held down on certain parts of her that showed off her figure in all the right ways. She wore her trainer belt for holding her own Pokemon team later and it gave the same effect as the seams, holding down her waist to show her curves. The outfit she walked out of the fashion section wearing, was a light grey dress with dark purple seams. The colours matched all of her clothes, but the clothes had slight variants in design for something a little different to feel wearing and to see in the mirror. Even her hate matched the entire theme of the clothes in colour and style.

"Thanks for helping me with looking for the similar styles. I'm not fond of other colour combinations. This feels close to what I would have worn if I'd grown up as a girl. What do you think?"

He seemed thrilled at the experience. It was strange to see a man so excited to shop for clothes, but then, he wasn't looking at the clothes so much as he was ogling the accents certain clothes would reveal, even though she didn't wear any of them.

They left the mart together, but it seemed he was called away for something, leaving Treiya to handle the trainer registration on her own. Reminded that she had Honchkrow with her and hadn't fixed her Pokeball to the belt, she tried moving the ball to a slot on her belt, only to drop it for a second, reaching down.

When she looked up, she saw a Greninja and a familiar face walking together. Had Naeya already trained it up so much that one of her Pokemon fully evolved? She was baffled that Naeya was able to walk past her without noticing.

Confidence filled, Treiya walked to the city hall. Her mind was filled with the confidence that the one and only person who could tell she used to be Tresk on instinct hadn't noticed her. There was no way she wouldn't be able to convince Xharye if she was doing the job again that afternoon.

Inside the city hall, Treiya wasn't let down by her hope. She walked over to the empty space in front of trainer registration and happily placed down her bag to get Xharye's attention. Treiya was showing a much more lively and positive attitude than usual, but that was the way she experienced life in that replay of life she experienced in her dream the previous night.

"Oh, sorry if you've been waiting long...darn, lost a good sentence I had on my mind. Oh well, how can I help you?"

"I arrived from Johto a few days ago and finally had the chance to come over and start up as a trainer here. Oh, and I don't need a new starter Pokemon. My buddy came over here with me. Name is Treiya, gender female and I'm seventeen."

Xharye's mood picked up as Treiya was able to pick it up with the natural habit picked up from her supernatural experience.

"It's not often new trainers of that age start here so close together. This group of four from Xhova arrived here not long ago as well and they finally started their zone challenge the other day. Lots of interesting stuff about that group, so I'm a little jealous I can't go along with them."

"Ah, maybe I'll get the chance to meet them~ Sounds fun. Ah, what are they like by the way?"

Xharye calmed down a little and leaned forward to show she was saying something secret.

"Well, the really cool and calm girl, she's super smart and strong, she's now dating my sister with marriage in mind, this one who was hurt in an accident was healed by the first girl, and now she's happily journeying with her for their zone challenge, and the other girl they arrived with has started working as a caretaker of the normal type zone. Unfortunately the fourth was a bit of a troublemaker and ended up in prison early, but escaped the other day and is now out there, maybe causing trouble somewhere. Can't believe he hurt his own friend so bad for a laugh..."

"Ah~ Where would they be now? I'd like to meet them before meeting with a friend of Dad's. Dad's friend works in the dark type zone. Dad worked as the last dark type elite four in Johto, Kinda picking up the tradition here since someone else took over and changed the type back in Johto since Dad quit."

"Oh, those people would be in the normal zone. There's this other new trainer who just started too who might be there in the normal zone with them. Oh! But sis' fiancee might not be with them today because she might be requested of sis to help a hurt Pokemon from the prison breakout yesterday. See, that girl has a lot of Pokemon powers, and she's stronger than most Pokemon. I'm glad her and sis are sharing a mutual love, otherwise I'd be worried about them. Oh...and it doesn't seem there's any notes about your arrival for meeting with the dark type zone, so we don't have someone picking you up, unless something else was arranged?"

"Right, Yule said he was going to pick me up later with his Mandibuzz."

Treiya realized something and made a show of looking through her bag for what she realized was missing.

"Oh no...I might have lost my Pokedex..."

Xharye made a motion for Treiya to wait, and she went back to the same office in the back Treiya knew nothing about, and returned shortly with a Pokedex in hand and a woman who seemed to be in her mid fifties following behind her with her attitude flaring up a little.

"Even though they're above the age for starters, we hardly give out starters lately, so give them out to trainers a little over the usual limit Xharye! We'll never learn everything we need from the information gathering unless we have enough Pokemon being studied out there in the field. Here, this is how you properly introduce starter Pokemon to a new trainer."

Treiya was about to refuse the active elder professor from proceeding with her introduction of the Pokemon, but it turned out that she was too slow to stop the woman. The three Pokemon were all called out from their Pokeballs, showing Pokemon Treiya knew nothing about, but had an eye enough to understand what kind of Pokemon they were. The fire type in the middle stared up at her with the same amount of interest she had in it. She managed to blank out the whole description of the Pokemon, and picked up the fire steel pseudo dragon and cuddled it cutely.

"So smooth and warm..."

"Ah, so you choose the fire and steel type Faera who is known to reside in the dragon's mountain zone of the region. A very good choice for a lively young trainer such as yourself."

"Are you sure I can bring it with me? I already have my Honchkrow I grew up with here with me..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to call back those other kids from before and have them pick starters too. Pokemon league rules need to be bent sometimes, and in the case of research, it is definitely a good cause. We have so many of the starters being produced through the daycare that there are almost more of them than the rest of the Pokemon in the region. It's quite ridiculous, and it's saddening that they don't get to experience a journey with a trainer."

Treiya nodded her head and frowned. It really was disappointing to think about the Pokemon who waited inevitably until they would be released instead of have a fun adventure with a trainer who chose them.

"Ah, hadn't noticed. You're very lucky with your Faera. She's female. As you might know, starters have a much higher chance of being male than female. Faera just so happens to be female so you're incredibly fortunate. Now, here's your new Pokedex. I hope to gather a lot of helpful information through your experiences here in Taffola. Enjoy your journey."

The professor waved at her, encouraging her to go away, but Treiya hadn't received Faera's Pokeball. She cleared her throat to get her attention.

"Oh, you still had something else to ask?"

"Just...when will I get Faera's Pokeball?"

The professor blushed in embarrassment. She handed over the Pokeball and smiled at her.

"Sorry about that. My mind had been so clear ever since-well, this one big event recently, and I've been feeling like I've been getting younger by the hour. It's like I've gone back forty years in the last few days. It's wonderful, but a little concerning that my attention span seems to have returned to what it was then. Now, thank you for starting your journey here. It's a pleasure to work with you."

Treiya smiled and played with Faera a little until Faera pushed the button herself and disappeared inside the Pokeball. She had no idea until that dream that such simple things could be so much more fun than being rude and terrible to people. She was in love with how cute Faera was, how cool Honchkrow was, how elegant Naeya looked...

Treiya wondered if Naeya always looked like that, and left the city hall blissfully toward the exit so she might meet with her old friends before heading back to the dark zone with Yule.

In the meantime, Xharye became curious of something she had seen in the records before.

"Hey professor, you think she might have had a brother? I get the sense that she might have had a brother with the same family history, because the one person who got away during the prison break has the same family history. So strange though...they're so unalike. She's so happy and energetic compared to him. She's so positive, when he was so dangerous. Hard to believe family can be so different from each other."

The professor smiled at Xharye and nodded her head.

"Sometimes it's the difference of which parent the child is more like, or perhaps she hadn't seen the same life as her brother, if they are related. Both situations are very possible answers to that question. She was wonderful though. She might be able to become just as good a trainer as you or Xhasca if she doesn't focus her energy in one thing alone."

Treiya could feel that words were being spoken of her, but maybe it was a sign that she was getting close to her old friends. She passed through the gates of the city and then the normal zone after a short while. She was just so happy to have all of the warmth and comfort she was feeling. She proceeded in to the normal zone, and eventually found herself at the safe zone. There, she found that the medical staff were quite caught up with their work unlike with the dark zone. It made her feel that she needed to become good at her job so that the dark zone could have just as easy a time with their medical care situation.

"Hi there, um, can I be pointed to where Yuuka might be?"

Treiya was answered energetically by a cute guy around her age that Yuuka was watching over a couple of trainers working with their Pokemon not far away, and Treiya approached slowly. It was strange to move so slowly after she had been moving so fast all day. She saw a group of powerful looking Pokemon resting while watching on behind Yuuka, that she picked out as soon as she could see them. There was another person there who confused her, training their Pokemon, and then...another girl. Where had Juez gone? She wanted to apologize to him so much it hurt, but she sighed, and just as she was about to turn around in defeat, the air felt amazingly thin, and the same shine colouration Greninja and Naeya appeared with a powerful looking Garchomp. Naeya already had those kind of Pokemon with her...she moved so fast. The resting Pokemon reacted to her return.

At the same time of her return, Yuuka who was right next to where they appeared screamed in her shock, only to pause for a moment before asking a question. Treiya was far enough away she couldn't make out the words they were saying, but she knew the conversation grew intense fast. The biggest clue it became intense was Yuuka passionately shouting. It was a little calm like Naeya was trying to calm Yuuka down, but when the shouting began, it really hit Treiya that Yuuka had changed since their time on Xhova. She grew.

"I just thought you were fast for what you did, but you also adopted the Garchomp and healed all of the other Pokemon on the floor?! Are you trying to make all of us worry about you?! Are you even thinking about your relationship with Xhasca when you push yourself so much?!"

A reminder that Naeya was in a relationship with the champion of the region, Xhasca. It still baffled Treiya that such a close relationship was formed in so short a time. Was it really mutual and so strong for both of them, or was one of them faking their feelings? Treiya was concerned, but it was for their sake, because a shallow relationship was no good.

Treiya walked toward them a little more to hear more of what they were talking about, only for Yuuka to start shouting again.

"Stop it Naeya! I didn't mind that you were a little distant with me despite how much I've always liked you, but now you have someone precious to you and you're putting yourself in so much danger...! It hurts me so much in the heart to hear every little bit that you push yourself...I love you so much, so I just wish you would love yourself enough to take as good care of yourself as possible. I know you're really a Pokemon and extremely powerful, but it's when you're tired you're most vulnerable. Naeya...! I'm taking you over to the safe area and you're resting now darn it!"

It hit Treiya like a rock slide attack. Yuuka was in love with Naeya that whole time? They all knew. About Naeya being...wait, she really was a Pokemon? Treiya wanted desperately to catch up with them, but just when she was about to walk over to them, she was grabbed by the elbow.

"They those kids from Xhova? I recognize super girl there in the purple and white, but aren't the rest of them just normal? Really seems like you have nothing to worry about as far as side effects. Anyway, city hall told me you came over here, so I'm picking you up so we can get over to where you're supposed to continue your heritage. Yeah, apparently you blabbed a little much to Xharye. She figures you're your own sister or something because of how different you were from yourself before, so you're safe for now, but that was really reckless to talk about your life before so easily."

"The most convincing lies are tied closely with the truth right? It wouldn't be hard at all to later pass on that before Dad and Mom left for Xhova to look after boy me, Dad was involved in an affair with Mom's sister. Because she's super private and gullible. All I know about her, but she'd easily admit to having me as her child. I kind of had it at the back of my mind while explaining a bit of myself to Xharye. Maybe one thing from Naeya was infectious to me. The subconscious answering of questions not yet asked. She was really good at that."

Yule shook his head and sighed.

"You kids really are way too smart. Thought you had mentioned that one of your friends was a guy and maybe he was the one you meant when you said special, so I was hoping to see what the lucky meat head looked like, but there's only girls and...someone who confuses me."

Treiya smiled and shared it with him finally turning from them to him.

"Knowing how Xharye put it and remembering what he really was like, maybe Juez became a girl too. The intentions would have been more pure than mine. Actually properly living as a girl like she was hiding wanting to all along, while my inspiration to change was influenced by hiding my past self and putting myself through this dream like thing to forge a past in my mind as if I had lived a female life...I'm real messed in the head. I do want to ask the one who resembles Juez before we leave though, so would it be okay if we watch their training to the end? Naeya and Yuuka just left for the safe area of the zone, so it's just Juez and the kid who just started tagging along with them."

Yule nodded his head and put his hand on Treiya's head, rubbing despite the awkwardness of her hat being there since the day had been blazing hot like she intended the hat for. He grinned stupidly, dropped his hand from her head and sat on the grass, waiting for Treiya to get it out of her system.

Treiya didn't get it out of her system for a while, and she was fed up with watching how bad both of them were at their training. The unknown person with a Rufflet was still failing at having Rufflet perform aerial ace properly, and the one who must be Juez' female appearance was trying to have their Stantler use double edge, when it was definitely too young to know the attack. Treiya stood up and walked over. She nearly shot Yule a glare when he started chuckling at her impatience for their bad training.

"Hey there. You look like you're having some trouble with your training."

The two of them turned their attention from their Pokemon to Treiya with confusion of her involvement in their training. Treiya felt a little awkward since she didn't know if the one who resembled a female version of Juez really was the same person, and the other person just...gave her too strange a feeling.

"My name is Treiya. I recognized Naeya and Yuuka before from pictures my brother sent me on the phone, so are you two friends of theirs? I was hoping to find my brother with you..."

Juieh had a gloomy expression when Treiya mentioned the only person she could be talking about. It made Treiya feel even worse about what she had done before to Juez.

"Ah, sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Juieh. It's probably a little surprising, but I was one of their friends on Xhova. Naeya's been really amazing since we've arrived here, I honestly can't keep up. Oh...and...well, Yuuka heard earlier today and told us that Tresk, your brother right? He escaped from prison. He had a really bad attitude, but I never thought he would go as far as he did with Xharye's Togekiss...never mind. It's not your fault I was nearly bed-ridden for the rest of my life. I suppose you'd want to hear better news about your brother..."

Treiya smiled when she recognized the playful name she'd heard when they were really young on Xhova. Often, Juieh's parents would call her by that name and dress her up in female clothing. Remembering that, she wondered why she was so oblivious about it until the point everything was going crazy in a land foreign to all of them.

"Ah, it's okay. I didn't really like talking to him either. So selfish and rude right? I'm glad he was punished a little at least, but he really should turn himself in..."

Treiya couldn't keep her emotions in check. Remembering how she had been before the change of heart. Before that event in her life, she now hated everything that she had been. She was so comfortable and happy with what she had become. It really was like she had become her own sister already. The other person with Juieh wore an expression as if they were trying to look through Treiya, but they eventually introduced themselves happily to join in the conversation.

"Sorry for just staring. My name is ~~~~~. In reaching for Naeya's accomplishments as a trainer already, they've invited me to tag along with their zone challenges so that I can learn to be as good a trainer as them together. But then, I'd like to know a little more about such a pretty friend of theirs who showed up out of nowhere."

Treiya laughed awkwardly until she sighed and pointed out how their Pokemon were still struggling with the moves they still didn't know how to perform. Treiya called out her Honchkrow and asked her if she would be able to teach Rufflet how to use aerial ace properly. Honchkrow nodded her head and flew over to the struggling bird, while she turned to the Stantler who was still struggling to use double edge.

"You do know that Stantler is still too young to learn double edge naturally right? Usually another Pokemon could teach how to use double edge to a younger Pokemon, but it's a little awkward still for a Pokemon who hasn't learned it naturally to use. If Naeya had left her Bouffalant here, you could have had it teach your Stantler. For now, how about we take Stantler to that little group of Bouffalant over there?"

~~~~~ was disappointed that Treiya avoided telling more about herself, nearly interrupting the training advice, but when they finally saw their Rufflet perform aerial ace properly, they dropped it for the time being.

Treiya and Juieh made it to the small herd of Bouffalant and pet one of them, pulling it from the group, only to ask it to show Stantler how to use double edge. Bouffalant easily performed the double edge, and after seeing the attack displayed properly, Stantler finally managed to copy it properly. Juieh sighed in relief that it worked, and turned to Treiya in thanks.

"Naeya told us to do that earlier, but we thought it would just be better if we trained traditionally with our Pokemon to learn the attacks. Shows how much we know about training. So uh...Tresk never mentioned you. I guess he maybe didn't like being the only one of us not being an only child?"

"Well, kind of like that. I'm not really sure actually. I didn't really know him much beyond the words he sent me in messages and pictures of him bullying you, so I'm not surprised he was a troublemaker enough to get himself in prison eventually. Oh, and my story for being here. He mentioned that you all were coming to this region after the graduation where you used to live and start your experience as trainers. Mom, his aunt since we're half siblings, suggested I take the chance to continue the tradition of working with the dark type like Dad's heritage until he quit the elite four. So I was recommended and kind of scouted at the same time by that scruffy looking guy who was watching you with me before. He's the current dark type zone champion, Yule. He's a bit strange, but he's really kind underneath. Hard to believe with all the tattoos right? Anyway, tell me more about your situation. You said you were badly hurt right? How were you healed? Did you have Ditto treatment to change your appearance?"

She nodded her head finally getting an explanation for Treiya's presence in the region, and then grew flustered at the asking of how she turned out as she did, then confused at the mention of Ditto treatment for her appearance. It seemed her confusion topped her list of concerns to deal with.

"Ditto treatment? What's that?"

"Ah, I guess I should explain. It's unfortunate, but my family has some connections with criminals, and sometimes they have to have their appearances changed so that they don't get caught by police. So it's quite well known that many people have Ditto which when the person who will have their appearance changed needs to have a clear picture of what they'll look like in their mind, and Ditto will cover the person's body with theirs...it's really gross actually. After a little while, Ditto peels away from the person and the result is the image of what the person intended to look like. It's called forced transformation. Pretty interesting, but super gross."

"So there was that option too...I wonder why Ditto aren't used for that more often..."

"Ditto treatment can't heal broken bones or anything major, so it's not regarded as useful in the medical field. Which is why I'm curious. How did you recover so well when you say you should have been stuck in bed for the rest of your life?"

She blushed.

"Well...when Naeya finally had the chance to visit me in the hospital, she had...grown a lot with her abilities. You seem you'd be fine to know, but please keep it a secret. Naeya can heal all of the wounds inside of a person or Pokemon using her psychic Pokemon energy. She healed me completely and she mentioned using the same forced transformation on me, but it wasn't as gross sounding as that Ditto treatment you just mentioned. It was more like the kind and warm energy she has went through me and changed my body inside and out. She can use her energy like that, and she apparently restored the arms and legs to the Garchomp that was with her earlier. That Garchomp apparently used to belong to a leader of the cult, so it's surprising she took it in so easy, but Naeya's a little unpredictable..."

Treiya was becoming more and more certain of the situation. She really wanted to stay with them and see what they meant.

"The most surprising thing, and what you really would need to keep secret, is that Naeya really is a Pokemon, and even way stronger than the region's legendary Pokemon. Her real form is as an adorable white pelt Mew, and she can even transform to Arceus, which makes her energy painful to be around. Please, don't tell anyone about this. If the cult hears about her real form, they'll never leave her alone, and maybe try to use her the same way they try to use the legendary Pokemon of the region."

Treiya was shocked. Shocked for a few reasons. Shocked that Juieh was still so gullible to tell a person she didn't really know such a heavy secret. Shocked that Naeya really was a powerful Pokemon, and shocked that the cult really was trying to catch her. All those things together made her very concerned for her well being. Now that she thought about it, Mew didn't really seem that type of Pokemon Naeya would be. Too carefree and whimsical. Naeya was much more calm and serious. But maybe it was just how Treiya remembered her. Maybe Naeya had become somewhere in between her personality as Mew and her life as Naeya. She seemed a lot more whimsical if she was dropping caution enough to go on the zone challenge despite the dangers. Serious to put herself in danger for the sake of healing those she could, carefree that she was throwing herself into a relationship with the region's champion, and calm the way she always showed no matter the situation. All of those qualities piled up to be a very attractive person, but dangerous. Dangerous to herself and those around her.

"Thank you for telling me Juieh. I'll be sure that not a single person hears about Naeya's secrets. It already feels like I grew up with all of you in a way through Tresk's messages and pictures of everyone. Being able to hear how happy you are with everything here, I'm glad you're moving on from that painful experience..."

Juieh grew quiet and looked at the ground.

"I'm really worried about that. Maybe if we never came here, she never would have realized the power she has and just lived a normal life. Instead, Naeya has been putting so many of the cultists in prison, fighting them off almost all the time and needs to always be alert. She almost got stuck in a Pokeball before on the day she picked me up from the hospital, which still reminds me when I close my eyes that it's possible. If some idiot from the cult obtains a master ball and uses it on her...they could force her to use her power for terrible things. I really wish some things could go back to normal, but then my greed gets to me and I'm so happy to finally really be a girl after all this time. I'm so happy that we've managed to find our ways to become happy even with what happened to our families, but...I still see them every day. The way they were all...sorry."

She had tears in her eyes and they dripped down her face faster than she could wipe them away. Treiya hugged her tight and whispered she was sorry in her ear softly.

"I'm so sorry you all had to go through that. I'm sorry for what Tresk did to you. I'm sorry it took so long to meet you. I'm so...so sorry."

Treiya cried a little as she said those words. They were the most genuine thing she could say, straight from her heart.

"Anyway...I should get going with Yule before we get in trouble for taking too long to show up there. Please, say hi to Naeya and Yuuka for me. I'll look forward to you visiting the zone when your challenge brings you there. And please, take care of each other. Also...please be careful of Pokeballs yourself. You had a lot of her energy used on you, so you might be affected enough you might be able to be caught in a Pokeball. That goes for everyone. Everyone who's had her energy used on them needs to be careful with Pokeballs. And be careful of your own power developing. If Naeya's energy can force transform your body from one gender to another and fix nearly any injury, then it's possible she could turn people into Pokemon. I doubt she'd intentionally do it, but please warn her that it's a possibility."

Treiya let go of Juieh and took a step back for telling her temporary farewell, then walked back toward Yule who stood up when he realized she was finally finished with her intentions with them. Juieh was shocked at how involved Treiya became, but in a happy way.

"You take care as well Treiya. We'll call you if we hear anything else about your brother."

In response to that, Treiya waved farewell to Juieh and Yule called out his Mandibuzz. The two of them climbed onto the large vulture bird, Honchkrow joined then, returning to her Pokeball and they took off, flying away through the air back to the dark type zone. The sight of them taking off on the large bird reminded Juieh that there were other people in the world that may be connected to them in some way.

Treiya was reminded that although it was fleeting, she was able to have a decent conversation with the person she'd bullied most in her memories. She was sorry, incredibly sorry. She wanted to make up for it. What disappointed her was her heart thrumming heavily from the simple hug they shared.


	27. Chapter 27

Naeya sighed when she finally had the energy enough to sit up after Yuuka forced her to take a rest. She was still mentally flustered over hearing Yuuka's confession of feelings in everything she said. When she sat up, Yuuka was just about to put a cloth on her forehead, which resulted in Naeya's forehead smacking against the cloth, returning her to laying down.

"Yuuka, I'm curious about something. Weren't there a pair of people when we headed back over here who were watching the training? The girl looked a lot like Tresk's mother. It reminds me that Tresk's mother had a sister who was mentioned once or twice, but maybe she had a kid as well? It would be interesting if she was an age twin with Tresk. It would be fun if she decides to join the journey we're having."

"Or maybe she just looks similar by coincidence and you're over thinking things. Besides, it's not so strange that she might just be someone visiting and watching some new trainers with their Pokemon. She could be a zone caretaker like me, only for a different zone. I didn't recognize her, so I'm not really concerned, but-"

"Hey, we finally got those moves down. It took Treiya's help teaching our Pokemon how to use the moves through other Pokemon, but it's done."

~~~~~ was the one to break the mood of the conversation, and to tell Naeya and Yuuka a little more about the situation with the girl.

"Treiya?"

Yuuka asked, while Naeya figured it would be pretty silly for a guy she recognized from her short time in the dark zone before to have such a feminine name.

"Right, she explained that she's Tresk's half sister. Apparently Tresk was pretty stealthy with his phone camera because he talked to her a lot on Xhova, sent pictures of all of us. She'd appreciate us letting her know if we hear anything about him, but otherwise she's gone to the dark zone to...continue the family business? Apparently their father was in the Johto elite four."

Yuuka nodded her head although she was still confused. Naeya on the other hand was doubtful. Tresk didn't use his phone often. It was entirely possible he really was being careful enough to get pictures once in a while, so she accepted that was a possibility. Of course, no good would come for his opinion and words about them.

"Treiya is so different from him. It's hard to believe that she's related to him. She was really pretty, kind and warm. Kind of like how Naeya always is."

Juieh was blunt about it. Naeya blushed in embarrassment about it.

"She wasn't very surprised about my change though. Even mentioned something that she'd heard of because of the family's connections with criminals. Apparently Ditto can do the same thing you were able to do to change my body Naeya, because some criminals have used that method to avoid being caught by police. That really surprised me. She's really smart too. I was surprised how well she was able to have our Pokemon learn those moves."

Naeya nodded her head. If Treiya was raised to be a good trainer by the family Tresk's parents left behind, then it was likely she would be well versed in training Pokemon, even those not of the kind she trained. That would make her quite respectable. As long as she didn't get too caught up with the criminals her family had ties to, she would be fine. Also as long as she didn't have any of Tresk's bad habits, though that would be difficult to pick up with the fact they didn't grow up together. Even through their communication it would be rare for them to be similar.

"She even...well, unlike Tresk, she has the shame to apologize for things. She apologized for so many things before leaving with the man she arrived with, oh, and apparently he was the champion of the dark type zone. She apologized for what we went through, what Tresk's actions did to me, and for not taking the chance to meet us sooner. She was apologizing so much she was crying with me. I...even felt my heart beating really hard when she hugged me while I was crying. It must just be from how we were from the topic we were talking about and crying together, but I don't know how to feel about it. I'd rather have a boyfriend to start a family with, but who knows."

Naeya and Yuuka were surprised at how much Juieh was fond of Treiya. Even mentioning starting a relationship with the sister of the person who made life miserable for her was surprising. No less surprising than Naeya becoming engaged to Xhasca within the day they met. But it was still surprising. Naeya only hoped that things would go well for them. She was curious though, and after they talked for a while until dinner, she decided she would properly meet Treiya before letting the situation settle. Naeya never heard about Juieh spilling her secret of being a Mew to her, so she didn't know what to expect in the dark type zone when she teleported outside of the gate. After walking through the gate in the early evening, enough light still in the sky to show that there were plenty of trainers outside with theirs and wild Pokemon of the zone training together.

It didn't take long before she was approached.

"A little late for a visitor for their zone challenge. Oh wait...I remember you! You're the one who was with Xharye coming out of the cliff! What can we do for you?"

"Ah, I'd just like to meet Treiya. I heard she just started working here today."

After Naeya said it, it seemed the person had to think about it.

"Oh right, the kid who showed up all dolled up with Yule a little while ago. She's helping with the safe zone's medical work right now-the one place with the most light aside from the cliff entrance, so if that's all you're here for, she'll show you to where everyone's been sleeping when you're done talking with her. Ah, and be careful. Apparently the zone higher ups are all a little protective of her. Something about the cult being too dangerous for her to get involved in. Anyway, just means you need to be a little careful too. Have fun kiddo."

The tall young woman had a tone she carried which told Naeya the dark type zone was was a little more...carefree about how they handled things. After hearing the directions to where Treiya was, Naeya made her way over, cautious and fully alert to the situation around her. After a little bit trying to focus enough with her regular vision, she used a move to adapt her eyes to the dark, showing her where all the people and Pokemon were in the area. It was almost wasted though as she arrived at the safe zone shortly after and needed to drop the move because the light bothered her eyes.

"Can we help you?"

"Actually, I might be able to help, but I'd like to meet with Treiya first, can you point out where she is?"

The heavily tattooed woman eyed Naeya up a little then realized who she was talking to. She was still much too scared from what she'd been hearing to stay calm.

"Y-yeah. Treiya's helping the scratch and small injury patients with first aid at the far left light over there. You a friend of hers?"

"I knew her brother. Just wanted to finally meet her."

Sev nearly stopped her from going further because of the mention of Tresk. Naeya walked around her though, saying a calm word of thanks as she stepped fluidly through the area until she reached where Treiya was concentrating as much as she could on stitching a deep cut that she was performing first aid on for an injured trainer.

"I'm fine for now Sev, just need a few more seconds and I'll be finished this stitch. Geez your a slave driver. -Ah!"

After saying those words without looking at the source of the footsteps who approached her, Treiya looked up and her eyes met Naeya's.

"Oh, sorry about that. Please, let me finish with the stitch here before anything."

Naeya nodded and let Treiya continue her clumsy work on the stitching. It was...acceptable for a quick fix, but no real trained medical staff would accept that as a proper stitch.

"Let me."

Naeya sat down beside Treiya and gently grabbed the stitch needle and thread from her before covering the wound with her hand, removing the stitching from the wound, and numbing the area of the wound before smoothly winding the stitching through clean and smooth. She clipped the tied stitch at the end and passed the needle and thread back to Treiya before looking her in the eyes. Naeya searched her energy and couldn't deny that she felt very different from Tresk. There were a few small familiar things, but those were things that could be explained by them being half siblings like previously noted.

"I missed the chance to meet you earlier, so I came over to visit tonight. I think you might already know about me, but I'd like to know a little about you Treiya."

Treiya nodded her head and marvelled at how clean the new stitching was. Treiya was more surprised that Naeya didn't outright heal the wound entirely, but maybe Naeya was being careful for the time being about using her power for healing the patients. The trainer who was stitched up stood up and thanked them for patching him up before walking off...to the lit up base inside of the cliff. Naeya couldn't blame them for using a warm facility for sleeping in at night, especially if none of them were connected to the cult. She sighed and looked back at Treiya, who was twiddling nervously.

"I-I'm sorry Naeya. I really wish I took the chance to meet everyone sooner. The family was just so busy, and I finally got the chance to go abroad, so now I'm here. I'm sorry about not visiting with you before I left there too. I'm just a little scatterbrained recently."

Naeya nodded her head and sighed. She turned her focus a little to another patient near them who had a series of small cuts on their belly, and picked up a disinfectant bottle on Treiya's other side, dabbing it on her fingers before gently cleaning the wound.

"I'm fine really, just wanted to finally meet you. I always had to figure, if Tresk was the way he was, there had to be an opposite somewhere. For a while I thought I was the opposite, but that wouldn't make sense if we aren't related. It's nice to know his parents had one good child."

Treiya blushed from the compliment, reaching over with a bandage Naeya applied to the scratched area and they told the patient his would was finished being treated as well. The rest of their nearby patients were Pokemon, so Naeya figured it would be safe to ask some more interesting questions.

"Ah, I would like to know though. How common is that Ditto method back in Johto? Of changing people's bodies? Because I'm surprised I hadn't heard of it until Juieh told me after you left. Of course I really shouldn't be surprised with my involvement with such a thing, but it would be interesting to know where the method originated."

Treiya calmed herself down enough to explain, but then steeled herself to tell the truth. Not the whole truth about her limited knowledge of the Ditto method, but that she didn't really know.

"I only really heard about it, so that was why I mentioned it. Really, I should be apologizing for not telling you right away that I'm going to keep it secret. Now that the other zone trainers are out of earshot...Juieh told me about your circumstances, and I'm going to definitely keep your secret safe."

Naeya didn't get the whole explanation, but she understood.

"Well, it wouldn't be that strange if I were to transform in front of everyone if the Ditto over there does the treatment on me. I can fix myself of course, but I need to stretch my tail, you know? And it would be less strange for me to use my healing power since you must know that much. I should have used a bit of energy to make Juieh forget some of that. She's the only person so far who doesn't have the control to keep her lips sealed on a secret. I'm glad you were honest with me about knowing. Until we provoke Ditto to using transform on me, let's get a little more done and talk some more."

Treiya nodded her head, happy that the mood was going well between them. Naeya was being so open and kind to her. They'd never talked like that before...well, aside from the dreams she had. She needed to force those down though and act like she had lived in Johto her whole life.

Treiya was nervous about putting hints together and realizing that she really was Tresk, but she just needed to play dumb and ask if Naeya had any idea where Tresk really was.

"You know, it's probably a bad idea if you want to hide something from a person with psychic powers to let your thoughts run so wild. I'm glad though. You're very honest now, and you've developed such a more attractive and kind personality. As long as you never return to the way you were, then nobody will have to know."

Treiya stared at Naeya while she used her powers regardless to heal the Pokemon around them.

"N-Naeya?"

"Really, it's fine. It might go better if I let Xharye and Xhasca know about you so we're not lying to them about your situation, but otherwise we're all fine. As long as things stay how they've become, there's no need to put you back in prison. Oh, and I approve of your transformation with that Ditto who's inching closer. Your appearance is very convincing of a sister to yourself. It would also feel awkward to let Juieh think she fell in love with your new personality, so it might be better to let everyone involved know about your situation. Really, I'm happy and honestly surprised you went the same way as Juieh. You were definitely a more masculine person...but that dream sequence running through your mind is a very attractive life we could have had together if you were initially this way. Maybe I should alter everyone's memories?"

"N-no! No please...I'd feel terrible encouraging playing with everyone's memories."

"Good, because that was a test. I'll explain it to everyone, and your situation should be fine. You wouldn't have to stick to working here of course if you don't feel it fits you right. After all, your new persona and these people definitely do not mix. I also smell...that's concerning me of your safety."

Treiya was put to tears from the surprise and then the kindness she continued to hear as Naeya  
promised to take care of her situation. Treiya could smell it too, the thick hormones of all the overly active people around them. Naeya stood up, Ditto leapt on her, and everyone but Treiya was truly surprised. When Ditto dropped from her, revealing Naeya's form as Mew, it looked up at her in its own surprise. Naeya winked at Treiya, tapped her tail to each of the patients in the medical area, healing whatever condition they suffered, and when she was done healing them all fully, she waved at Treiya and flew off.

Naeya laughed to herself a little as she flew through the night sky. That was fun. It was reckless, but it was so much fun. Concern flowed through her though. Even though she promised to make things right, she just left Treiya there while there was so much hormonal activity going on there. She stopped and looked back down on the lit up safe area in the zone, and steeled herself to abduct Treiya from them so that she wouldn't have to worry over a single night of them being together. Treiya wouldn't have to suffer.

Naeya flew back there at near blinding speed, and when she stopped beside Treiya, touching her tail to Treiya's forehead, lifting her with the connecting psychic energy, she guided them with her energy as they floated through the night sky together.

"What are you doing Naeya?!"

 _Protecting your chastity. Even one night is too much around those perverts. I'm surprised you already lasted a night with them._

Treiya blushed hard, and while Naeya wasn't looking, her energy told her anyway. Treiya floated in a way that she was looking down at the ground, and she panicked.

"No...no!"

Treiya realized then how high they were in the sky, and even though it was likely she had been that high before with Yule's Mandibuzz, she had been keeping her eyes closed. She realized then her deep fear of heights.

"Please...! Please don't drop me!"

Naeya shook her head.

 _We're fine, and close to Xhasca's apartment. I'll get us in there safely so we can explain the situation to her. When we're done explaining to her, then I'll bring you to everyone else. Well, I'll see if I can find Xharye's apartment and let her know as well before we go to the normal zone and explain to everyone else. Just so you know, I feel a million times more awake and alert in this form than before. No secrets from me, and now you have none hidden from me._

As promised, they went from the cool night air into a bright lit room which had delicious smelling food wafting through the air, a soothing warm feeling in the room. Treiya was set down on her feet, while Naeya transformed easily back to her human form and hugged Xhasca from behind, giving her a peck on the neck. Xhasca wasn't even surprised, turning around when she moved the food from the cooking element of the stove she was working at.

"You're visiting me so often I think I'll get my fill of your journey either way."

"Not just a visit tonight, Xhasca. Something important came up you need to know. You know how one person got away in the prison break? That person is in the room, and is a completely changed person of their own will and determination. Previously Tresk, now Treiya, she has warped her own mind enough to live her life from now on as if she had been a much more friendly and kind girl instead of her less acceptable time as Tresk."

After that explanation, Xhasca stared at Treiya in an observant and keen way. She nodded her head and turned back to the food on the stove.

"I would have accepted even the explanation that you caught Tresk and warped his mind yourself to change him, but if Tresk willingly changed to become that girl Treiya, that's fine too. Do we need to worry about her getting herself in trouble?"

Xhasca still seemed a bit from finishing cooking the meal, and Naeya nodded that Treiya should do the rest of the convincing.

"I'm...really sorry about how I talked to you before, champion Xhasca. I've been very disrespectful and want to earn another chance at a normal life here in the region. I already took a chance earlier today and apologized to Juieh for the damage and hurt I caused her, even though that will never be enough. Naeya convinced me...I'll be better off not lying to everyone."

She nodded her head, and started dividing the food she was cooking, spreading three bowls on the counter, placing them on a table where a few more chairs were placed than usual.

"Sounds good to me. Naeya's probably the better judge in this situation with me knowing her abilities. Heck, she even showed her true form to you. As far as my opinion, I'm just glad you've grown from your experience. Just no more trouble that will land you in court, alright? I know how bad some of the camping food is, so eat some of this real food up. Naeya has no appetite anymore, so you can even have whatever she doesn't eat."

Xhasca and Naeya sat down beside each other at the table, and Treiya was boggled at how easy it went. Someone she'd had such burning resentment for before, she was so happy to be around. That beautiful person offered her the most delicious looking and smelling food she'd ever been near.

Treiya found herself pulled to the other set seat of the table, where she sat down and took her first bite before she noticed it. The rich and delicious taste filled her completely. It was like she hadn't really had a real meal in ages when she felt the food filling her so much, hunger and spirit with every bite. Treiya could imagine the food being one of the ways Xhasca initially attracted Naeya.

"Ah, when she finishes eating I was going to bring her to Xharye so we could explain it to her before bringing Treiya to the normal zone and explain to the rest about the situation. Where's Xharye's apartment?"

Xhasca pointed to the wall behind the bed they had shared, to which Naeya nodded her head and sighed.

"Of course you two would have some of the largest apartments in the city."

Treiya noticed the familiar pattern of the tail of the powerful Pokemon who roasted the others who tried escaping back at the prison break, and she broke into a cold sweat.

"Ah, don't worry about Vesca. She's dangerous when she's ready to fight, but otherwise just like a Slakoth. I was just as scared as you when she used that fire blast. Even more scared when she hacked up that one cultist's Garchomp. Oh, that reminds me, how is that Garchomp?"

Naeya pulled a Pokeball from her belt which surprisingly maintained through all the transformation and pressed the button, calling her out.

"Ah, I'm so glad she's alright after that. I knew it was the right idea to have you treat her. Not surprised either that she decided to join you. You did convince her not to seek revenge for her previous trainer or her injury right? I couldn't control Vesca...I feel terrible about what she did."

Treiya could hear the words she spoke being genuine truth. She sighed and nodded her head in relief. Luckily, Vesca listened enough to not roast her as well.

"Vesca would be the other dragon on your team which resembles Vescalla, this region's legendary Pokemon right?"

After Naeya said that, Treiya's attention was drawn entirely to them again. Any attention on the food or else was gone.

"Right...Vesca is a bit of a mystery actually. All of a sudden, a Pokemon resembling the region's legend will show up during the hibernation, likely a child of the legend. It's been a tradition that the strongest trainers of the region take care of the Pokemon because without being guided properly, they in the past have run rampant without the cult provoking them to attack the region. They were essentially living natural disasters, laying ruin to everything else that lived until a strong trainer would show up able to stop and command them. Vesca stays with me enough to stay in her Pokeball, but I'm definitely not strong enough to properly command her like the trainers in our history. Eventually, Vesca will disappear and another will appear in the nest where Vescalla sleeps, to which another strong trainer must take care of it until the next trainer or Vesca comes along."

"That sounds like it would be a problem if a cultist were to get hold of a Vesca."

When Treiya said it, Xhasca nodded her head.

"It's why we've secured Vescalla's nest. It's locked far below the largest mountain in the region. Only champions have ownership of the key to get inside of the nest. And only champions know of this, so I'm going to need the both of you to keep this secret from everyone. Just to be clear Treiya, this means if you're caught telling someone else about this, it's back to jail, and never coming back out."

Treiya gulped in reflex to the fear that she felt run through her hearing how serious that threat was from Xhasca.

"Anyway, this was enjoyable, but Xharye should be back in her room now from dinner, so you might as well go over there and tell her about the situation with you. Oh, and good luck. She's a lot more strict than me about these things, so it will definitely take some convincing to prove yourself to her. Even if she trusts Naeya enough to leave the situation to her judgement."

After Xhasca finished saying it, Naeya stood up, bent over and pecked Xhasca on the forehead before pulling Treiya up, and phasing them through the furniture and to the other side of the wall, to Xharye's room. To which they shocked Xharye beyond belief, having her throw whatever was close to her. Everything she threw was stopped in mid air in front of them by Naeya's energy, and she set them on the floor normally, pushing the items to back where they were grabbed from.

"Sorry for intruding on you Xharye. Some explaining needs to be done. Since I explained to Xhasca, it's your turn now Treiya."

After Naeya left the explanation to Treiya, she froze stiff.

"Explain what?"

"Uh...um...I..."

Treiya became too afraid to say it after the warning Xhasca had given, to which Naeya passed her energy through Treiya to calm her enough to do the explaining. It took a few seconds, but eventually Treiya took a deep breath, and started talking.

"I'm...was...Tresk. I'm sorry for lying to you earlier today. In my determination to change and live a normal life without being thrown back in prison, I've convinced my mind that I've always been different than I used to be, and a girl, so..."

"And so why hasn't Naeya thrown you back in prison? You nearly got Juieh killed with pushing Togekiss like you did."

She was stern and furious that she had them in her apartment, while Xharye was in her night dress.

"I...already apologized to her earlier. There's nothing I can really do to make up for all the years I was the way I was, especially for the pain I caused. I intended to put my past self to the grave and live separate from everyone, but when Naeya saw through me, she decided it was better that I not be lying to everyone. I'd rather spend the rest of my life making up for how I was than waste it behind bars in prison."

"And it was a better idea to get her away from the dark type zone with all those hormones and perverts getting ready. My decision on this is based on what I've seen of Treiya's mind. If her words haven't convinced you, I can show you the dream she had that's been trying to replace the past she really lived. Her mind as it is now is a completely different person from her life as Tresk."

Xharye sighed and sat back on a giant plush pillow she was standing next to.

"Might as well show me what's going on in her head, because otherwise I won't be able to stop thinking that she might still be lying to everyone and betray you. That paranoia would keep me unable to do my work properly."

So Naeya took Treiya over to Xharye, and touched her palms against each of their foreheads, funnelling Treiya's current thoughts and dream to the front of what Xharye saw and experienced in her mind. It only took a minute to convince her completely.

"Darn, you would have been really cute if you weren't Tresk growing up. I almost see in you from those memories you created in that dream something as attractive as Naeya might be to Xhasca. You return at all to how you were as Tresk, and I won't hesitate to have you being put in prison. Otherwise, just...finally treat your friends good, alright?"

The experience drained Xharye of energy. She was so incredibly exhausted, she barely made it to her bed.

Naeya helped her get under the covers, and transformed back to her form as Mew, dragging Treiya through the sky again to the normal zone where everyone else might already be asleep. When they were floating up above the area, Naeya could barely sense an incoming Pokeball shape, which she dodged. The device hit Treiya and...shocked Naeya with what happened. She watched Treiya disappear into the Pokeball and plummet to the ground, but she caught the Pokeball holding her before it reached the ground, internally sighing in relief that the Pokeball and her weren't hurt from the drop, but frustrated that the Pokeball worked, especially that Treiya actually ended up captured by the ball. Naeya touched the button of the ball to release her from the ball, throwing the strange looking Pokeball with her energy at the person who launched the ball with an arm cannon device. The strange Pokeball even caught the other person. It told Naeya that the Pokeball would work even with her capture canceller turned on, and it could even properly capture humans...a truly horrifying device.

 _Are you okay?_

Treiya was trembling from the fear of what she experienced.

"That's...you experienced that too? Well, maybe not plummeting like that from the sky in one, but being in that cramped and terrifying space? Trapped with no way out?"

 _In my case, I was able to force my way back out of the ball and didn't have to be saved, but yes, I had a moment like that as well. It seems I have to be a little more forceful in my capturing and perhaps interrogation of the cult to find out how they created this kind of situation for us. For now, grab your Pokedex and find the important contact list. Xhasca's contact is labelled XhasVesca. Tell her that we need a cultist specially locked away and interrogated._

"I...I can't. My hands are shaking too much."

Naeya sighed and used her energy to grab the cultist in the strange device and the launcher with more of them and set them down next to them. She reached her energy into the bag and made the call to Xhasca. Naeya put the Pokedex up in front of Treiya and told her of course Naeya couldn't in her Mew form, so she at least had to talk.

"Naeya...says we need a cultist specially locked away and interrogated. Champion Xhasca...it was terrifying...! The cultist used this launching device to launch a strange human catching device and it caught me in it. I almost crashed and died from the drop. Naeya saved me from the drop, but we really need help. We're between the gates of the city and the normal zone."

The other end of the line was silent, and it worried Naeya that Xhasca was quiet.

"Those people really are messed in the head. I hope Naeya used their weapon on the one who put you in one?"

"Yes, he's been stuck in there for over a minute now. He definitely can't break out of there. I couldn't, which I guess means only a strong Pokemon could break out of the devices like normal. We're too weak to physically fight out of them."

Xhasca sighed.

"I'll be there in a minute."

The call ended, and Naeya put the Pokedex back into Treiya's bag. A literal minute later, Xhasca arrived on Skarmory's back. She had a lock box on her for a Pokeball in her hands which she held open for Naeya to put the occupied prisoner away. When the device was locked in there, Naeya sighed.

 _I want to interrogate him myself tomorrow. See if the launcher and other devices can be studied by the city's manufacturing staff until then so we can see if they're able to replicate the same thing. If we can understand it, we can block it from working. Sorry for making tonight busy too._

"Hey, nothing out of the ordinary here anyway. Just remember, when you defeat me and become the next champion, you have all of this to look forward to."

Naeya sighed and looked back at Treiya who was still trembling from the mix of fears she experienced. She not only experienced nearly dying from the newly developed fear of heights, she was also trapped in a small closed space and she was also afraid of what being captured in a Pokeball could mean for her and other people.

Naeya was safe to return to her human form, so she transformed back and grabbed Treiya's hand.

"We'll walk there like this and meet up with everyone. They need to know this too, okay? They're in just as much risk with these devices as I am with my capture canceller turned off. This collar."

Naeya pointed at the purple heart shaped crystal on her choker. It surprised such technology was in Naeya's necklace, but Treiya could believe anything at the moment. She'd never thought of people being able to be captured in devices like Pokeballs until the mess in Taffola included them, and now she had a first hand experience of getting trapped in a Pokeball.

The two of them left together to the normal zone, where for the rest of the night, the whole group from Xhova properly reunited and ~~~~~ were informed on the dangerous situation they were now in. First thing in the morning, Naeya would be going to interrogation.


	28. Chapter 28

"Through that door."

Naeya took a deep breath and walked through the door into the interrogation she was led into. She could tell from the emotions that the staff of the city hall felt toward her, at least the guards were all jumbled. They were trying to hide how they felt about the situation, how they felt around her, but they couldn't. Not from the energies which constantly surrounded her.

The door closed behind her like expected, and the cultist sat on the other side of the table in the interrogation room, but that person wasn't what was on Naeya's mind. Nor was her mind on the capture device on the table in front of her. Her mind was on the real thoughts of the workers of the city hall. All of the guards, not a single exception weren't reluctant to let Naeya have her way. And they knew about her powers. They were tempted to start throwing capture devices at her. Yes, she could tell that they were working with the cult. It would explain why the cult were able to escape from prison so many times before. She wondered how many of the people among the city hall staff were involved, but she was reminded with the clink of the chains rattling with the cultist on the other side of the table nervous of the coming interrogation.

"You know, there's technically not going to be much talking during this interrogation, and there's no point in trying to hide anything. Humans have weak minds and you already know what I am anyway. All I need to do is say something, and like any other human mind, your mind will show me things that you want to hide. What I want to know, is how you had hold of such troubling devices. How they work even with a capture canceller active nearby."

He glared at her, but as she said, he couldn't hide anything from her. His mind opened up, telling her just what she needed to know from what she mentioned.

He was given the devices and launcher by someone. Someone who works with the private manufacturer of the region. There was a factory in the city that his mind showed had many of the cult working there in secret. Those people with the cult in the factory often supplied the cult with the devices they would use against powerful Pokemon as the original intention. Apparently it was only a small modification that allowed the devices able to capture humans.

The way that the device worked in proximity of the capture canceller, was that it didn't run on the same capturing function using the same waves. It worked on the energy of the Pokemon and not the electricity used to operate the normal devices.

"Good, that answers those questions. Now, it wasn't part of my original intention, but care to reveal who your real leader for the cult is? I assume that your real leader is someone connected to those incapable of performing as trainers? Not one of the guards here is fond of me, so it's quite obvious they're with the cult, but I assume it's not just that deep. Your connections are much deeper."

His mind showed Naeya an occasion where he and a lot of other cultists were gathered with guards, other cultists she could recognize. They were in a gathering, and Naeya wasn't surprised to see that the judge she had a bad feeling about before was one of them. She was surprised she didn't recognize the person who led the gathering, but it was clear the tall and imposing androgynous looking person with long black hair and ice blue eyes was the leader of the cult. The person gave the same feeling that ~~~~~ gave her, but it definitely wasn't the same person. Perhaps they were related.

Further thought on the occasion told her that apparently that person was connected to the original royal family of the region before the Pokemon league started. The mind of the cultist revealed the true aim of the cult. The past that she didn't yet know of. Far in the past, back when the region had been named before and lost that name to the fanaticism of the cult, the region was ruled by a royal family which was friends with Vescalla. According the the ideals of the cult, only the royal family could control Pokemon. Only they could control any Pokemon or person in the region. They had biological connection to Vescalla as well, able to use the abilities of Pokemon as well. The most recent descendant was...the same as Naeya. A person whose real form was a Mew. That person was a black pelt Mew with ice blue eyes. Knowing about that person convinced Naeya that...she had real family.

It confused her though. How was she related to the family? How had she been so far away from the region her whole life?

Further thoughts from the cultist told her that the royal family of the region, originally named after the family was Raenue. The family members...were immortal. It meant that not only was Naeya a member of the family, but her memory would need to have suffered a lot to not know her connection to the family. Or she wasn't related at all, but the same anyway.

Her mind fuelled with questions about herself on the connection to the region, and answers that the true aim of the cult, she nodded her head, took the capture device from the table and went to the door of the room. Just as she was about to open the door, the cultist spoke up.

"You're the same as our leader - join us!"

"I quite like the modern relationship of Pokemon and humans. It's friendship and not slavery. You're pretty dull as well. You and the rest of your cult accept being mere slaves to the royal family and Vescalla. Your royal family only has one person leading it. Even if I have one trait similar to your leader, I not only don't have memories of the family, there's no proof I'm really the same. Should your leader provide memories blocked from my mind, I'd only proceed to convince them the benefit of accepting the way the world is now. Going at war with the entire world over a single old way of life is barbaric. The thing about humanity and Pokemon, is that we have grown over time. Going back is the kind of thinking belonging to those who believe they failed. Does your leader intend to go back to the way things were in the past?"

"Of course we all intend to return things to the way they were!"

"Then you should know the consequence."

Naeya hadn't tried using the unique energy of one of her transformations, but given the situation and the kind of convincing she could do for one individual in the wrong, she transformed to Celebi, grabbed the cultist by the back of the head and imagined bringing the both of them far back in time. A few thousand years. The result, the two of them were floating in the air far above a swamp at the edge of the ocean. Naeya lowered the cultist to the ground and flew back up into the air to look around. She could see plenty of Pokemon she didn't recognize roaming around all over the place, but not a single human was in sight. The familiar mountain in the distance was a little smaller, and was going through volcanic action, building up the land to what it would eventually become. There was too much distance at the moment to tell for certain, but she could tell that there were a lot of magma Pokemon swimming through the flowing lava bursting out of the maw of the volcano.

Some of the Pokemon in the immediate area were not friendly at all to the human Naeya had brought along with her to the past. An early form of Zangoose used agility then slash to try and hurt the cultist, only for him to disappear to another spot Naeya moved him to. She was enjoying seeing the scenery. Somehow, even though it would be familiar because it was the same region, she **felt** it was familiar. Not just in the sense of time. It were as if she were...returning home somehow. A hydro pump flew at the cultist and Naeya was satisfied with what she saw.

"That kind of world is what would happen if your leader had her way. Oddly, it felt nice to me to see the sight of that far back, but humans couldn't survive in that kind of environment. Not one of you cultists are thinking of yourselves in the long run. There is no win in it for you. You're sacrificing yourselves."

He was shaking in fear, returned to his trapped state in the interrogation room. Couldn't blame him for being afraid. He was nearly killed by ancient Pokemon.

Naeya was shaken herself, but only because of the experience she felt in the past. She felt more alive than she did in the present. Not nearly as pleasant as her experiences with Xhasca, but it was like something back in time would tell her more about herself.

She waved farewell to the cultist and pushed the door of the room open. She could feel the animosity toward her from the people in the hall around her, but she ignored it as she left the upper floor of the city hall. Before finishing at the city hall, she went to the lab in the back where the professor and Xharye were arguing about something.

"You aren't listening, professor! Xhasca told me about it, and Naeya was there to witness it! A capture device was made able to catch humans. This is a clear violation of the international research law! Why won't you at least talk to your contact?!"

Xharye was never short of passion for when she talked about something she cared about. For the moment, she was passionate about the fact that she had heard from Xhasca the kind of trouble was brewing from the cult now.

"It's okay Xharye. Her mind has long forgotten her contact in the international research association. If it comes to it, I can convince a Porygon to connect us to them. Or would you like to be reminded, professor?"

The professor shook her head. As much as her mind was uncluttered from Naeya's interference before, and her health improved, it was actually concerning.

Naeya could feel a few younger people gathering on the other side of the desk.

"Sounds like it'll be a little busy for you right away Xharye. I have something to ask the professor."

Xharye was still determined to do what she could about the situation, but she did have her other duties she couldn't ignore. As soon as she left the lab, the door closed behind her, Naeya turned her attention on the professor.

"You said your machines could read energy and mine with all of the transformations before became completely what I transformed into, right?"

She hummed in positive response as she turned back to her computer to look at something she was studying.

"We never did measure me transforming into a Celebi. I want to know if the energy is the same when I transform into Celebi, because just a short while ago I used the energy to go very far into the past of the region."

She froze, slowly turned to Naeya and stared in shock and realization.

"That was the strange energy my machines picked up! My machine doesn't have information on Celebi's energy since Celebi isn't bound by time and the same with the energy. However, whenever Celebi uses its power to teleport through time, it must discharge the energy, which is why maybe the machine picked it up. It was confusing me that my machine picked up a strange energy signature, but this explains things. How far back did you go? How different was everything?"

"I'm not sure exactly how far back I went, but the region's main mountain was still in volcanic activity."

"Eighteen thousand years..."

Naeya was shocked by the number the professor said.

"It's been eighteen thousand years since the volcanic activity of the region stopped. Since then, people started populating the land. Were there any humans around?"

"Only Pokemon."

Naeya was stunned. She went more than eighteen thousand years into the past.

"Then you very likely went back around twenty three thousand years. That was a time when Pokemon would all have the same trait your Aegislash and Greninja share. I believe it's a trait shared by all Pokemon of that time, so it's possible that it's a trait that was lost with the prolonged presence of humans. The fact that there are Pokemon like that in this time only alludes to the idea that yourself as Celebi or another has brought Pokemon to this time from the past. It doesn't make sense with the Honedge line of Pokemon though. Perhaps that trait exists on Xhova where the Honedge was born?"

All of the information was dizzying to her. Naeya was surprised, but at the same time...somehow she wasn't. It felt like things were coming together in her head about the situation. Like her brain was trying to remember things.

"Thanks for telling me what you could then professor. I'm going to check on something."

The professor nodded her head and Naeya used teleport to put her on top of the city hall. There, she transformed back into Celebi and went back through time again. When she arrived back in the same time she left behind with the cultist before, she barely dodged the hydro pump which was still flying.

Naeya waved at the Blastoise which was confused to see her there after disappearing along with the human that shouldn't have existed there at the time. Not one of the Pokemon were violent toward her, so Naeya simply transformed back to her form as Mew so to conserve her energy as best as possible. It was crazy for her that there was so much more for her to explore. There was something interesting though below where she warped in. She could feel deep and grand caverns below the surface of the land. It was strange since the land she was floating above was swamp land, but then she realized that there was some heavy land crust which was breaking down from above with the flooding of the water onto the land, which created the swamp. If the water would continue to flood the swamp land, the cavern beneath would end up being flooded. While this only told Naeya that this was part of the area which would later become the prison of the city hall, she realized that was wrong, because she was too far above the swamp when she arrived to measure that space to be the same. No, it were as if the flooding hadn't happened in the future, allowing for the port city to later be built.

Naeya flew down to the ground to check closer on the current situation below her, she had the feeling that she teleported to the time she did for a reason. It was because of a very familiar and similar energy to her own she felt below the surface being used heavily to harden the crust. Naeya was nervous, but she teleported to the cavern below the surface only to see the familiar Mew that led the cult in the future. Naeya flew over, and copied the move the other Mew was using to harden the crust. In a short time, they finished turning the crust into a stable and sturdy form of mineral that water wouldn't be able to break down. The other Mew was also maintaining a light, so that was why they were struggling with the energies they were using.

 _Where were you, big sis? You suddenly disappeared!_

Naeya was confused at first, but then she remembered some theory she'd heard about time travel. That two of the same life can't exist in one time, so that would place the time traveller at a different place. Did that mean she really was supposed to have been there so far in the past? That she was so old? That she really did originate from the region later called Taffola?

 _Sorry, my energy went a little crazy and it teleported me somewhere. At least we managed to fix this up, right?_

The other Mew was upset.

 _You went and bumped your head again didn't you?! You're always doing that, you clumsy big sis! Always forgetting things! Never mind...Let's go and make sure our Heatran friend is doing okay with the volcano._

Naeya nodded her head and teleported with the energy the other Mew used. She was able to gather a little at least. She and the other Mew were definitely related. How else would she replace herself in the past? And be confirmed immediately by another psychic Pokemon.

After teleporting, they floated above the volcano. The other Mew transformed after immediately complaining about the heat to a Moltres form which Naeya didn't copy, so that she didn't just continue copying and following the lead. Naeya's transformation was instead to the dragon-type Charizard.

 _Oh, changing your transformations today? That's fun. Moltres is a classic, but sometimes I prefer being Talonflame since they're nimble, or Aerodactyl since they're also resistant to heat. Anyway, it looks like Heatran's work on the volcano is progressing well. Want to go and rest somewhere so I can make sure your amnesia is cleared up? I get fed up with it, but since you're my only family, we might as well help each other whenever we can._

Naeya nodded her head, and the two of them flew further north to the cold part of the region where they transformed again. The other Mew transformed into an ice Ninetails while Naeya transformed to Glaceon.

 _Okay, now like usual, stay still so I can do this without hurting you and the memories you do have._

Naeya made herself as calm as possible with the calm mind skill and she topped it off with meditate. She paid attention to the things the other Mew did, but it didn't do much until she felt a lot of memories rushing to her. Memories which went beyond just the time they were in. Memories of...visiting other regions together with the other Mew. Seeing the start of humans in other regions, only to copy their genetic information and create other humans in a region they created from scratch.

The two of them were not welcome in many lands, the Pokemon denying the twin Mew whose energy was too painful to be around. The two of them eventually were tired of other Pokemon denying them, so they found the nearly above water base for their region they would build together. There, they used their energy to copy Pokemon they met to build the region up from the land barely short of the water's surface of the ocean. Over countless years of work, they were at the current point in Naeya's travel. All of the Pokemon of their region were stronger than usual, and they were created from Naeya and the other Mew's energy. Later, they would travel back to other regions where Pokemon and growing populations of humans were burdened by them. At that time, when those Pokemon and people were too weak to handle being around them, they infected their energy in other regions so that the people and Pokemon would eventually be able to handle their presence. That created the Pokemon evolutions and patterns which would grow and continue to be transported.

Then Naeya's mind was filled with thousands of years of living together in the region, befriending the Pokemon which populated their region, filling it with humans, but never many. At some point, the two of them would take on human forms. Remembering the other human form Naeya's genetic ability knew...she and the other Mew were definitely opposite in their colour scheme. Naeya and her were the original royal family. However, Naeya didn't participate in the royal family name or duties as much. She was opposed to making their friends and the people they created into slaves to create the buildings and monuments like were forming in the ancient times of other regions. Eventually, the memories caught up, and Naeya knew exactly how her current situation came to be. The name she identified recently didn't sit well with her anymore. Especially after remembering the countless years of life she had with the only real family she had. Her sister Mai and her Nai. Naeya wasn't far from her original name with her sister, but it still didn't sit well with her to go by Naeya when her mind was clear.

 _How are you feeling? As usual, I refuse to look at your memories, so hopefully you can remember everything. You should be feeling better though. So? How did you lose your memories this time?_

 _During the repair of the cavern, I used too much energy and accidentally used teleport while hardening the crust above us. The teleport scrambled me a little. Thanks Mai._

She nodded her head and sighed.

 _I'm really glad you suggested this transformation by the way. This version of Ninetails doesn't exist anywhere yet. Maybe some day this version of Ninetails will fill the world._

 _Maybe someday... Hey, you know what? I really want us to have really good friends. Friends that enjoy our time with us just like this. Just making others to share the land with us is a little boring. Friends can make things so much more fun and exciting._

Mai nodded her head again and squinted in a very happy smile. She laid down, resting her head on Nai's front paws

 _Big sis Nai is always so full of love. Someday I'll be the same._

Nai groomed Mai a little in the restored feelings she had for her. Nai had such a hard time believing she had such a long life she had forgotten. Hidden behind traumas she had faced in the past. Originally Nai had been quite clumsy, and Mai was born of that clumsiness, Nai creating her from her much more abundant energy back then. Nai was unconscious for a long time, and Mai took care of her then.

There were a lot of tragedies near the present day that Nai wasn't currently experiencing. One tragedy was Mai creating Vescalla when Nai disappeared for a time from experiencing amnesia again, pushing her to rule over the population of the region until Nai would return to help her run things again, and then an argument between them nearly killing Nai with Vescalla's power. This drove Nai to travel far away in protective instinct of herself, transforming into the baby which eventually grew up to become Naeya. It took Nai a long time to travel to Kalos and be found by those kind and loving humans who raised her as a human child. What's interesting is that Nai became far less clumsy during her time raised as a human.

Knowing her past, Nai returned to the present and took on her appearance as Naeya.


	29. Chapter 29

~~~~~ was exhausted. Training like mad to be ready for battle with other trainers was intense, but only because of how much they pushed themselves. Rufflet evolved into Braviary, ~~~~~ caught and worked with Sawsbuck, and a Munchlax just joined their training the afternoon Naeya was away from the group for the interrogation about the capture devices for humans.

"Sawsbuck, use leech seed on Munchlax. Munchlax, use roll out to dodge and put Sawsbuck off balance."

The amount of things ~~~~~ was trying to command at a single time vocally felt like far too much for them. If only they had the ability to communicate mentally like Naeya so that all they needed to do was picture it in the fraction of time it took than to put the commands into words.

"Some water?"

Yuuka held onto a basket filled with water bottles and in her other hand held out a single water bottle to ~~~~~.

"Thanks."

~~~~~ called for their Pokemon to pause their training and sat back on the ground, taking a big few gulps of the water, draining half of the bottle contents.

"Your training is coming along well. You're making a lot of good complicated calls with your team and they're handling them well. The trainers who are worth wins toward winning the zone's challenge say you're more than ready. I'm worried you're trying to aim for Naeya too much though."

~~~~~ shot a glare at Yuuka when the truth of pushing themselves came out. They really were aiming too much for Naeya's ability as a trainer. While Naeya was definitely phenomenal as a trainer, she was also beyond amazing in that she knew how to use the moves of Pokemon and to teach them to a Pokemon. There was too much to aim for, and ~~~~~ tried not to aim that high, but couldn't help it.

"Hey, why don't we do a little battle. I have no confidence or skill in battling, but my Eevee and Teddiursa have been complaining they haven't been able to play with others much since they joined me."

"What's the fun in battling someone who hasn't battled yet?"

"You'll be surprised, just give my Pokemon a chance to stretch themselves, okay?"

~~~~~ sighed and stood back up. Yuuka followed the lead and walked away enough to call the distance normal for the battle to start and she called out her Teddiursa to start.

"So, how do you want to start the battle?"

Yuuka smiled and shyly answered.

"I hadn't thought that far yet...how about you start and I'll do a reaction kind of battle style like Naeya does. That way you can experience battling against her style for real?"

After Yuuka said it, ~~~~~ smiled and nodded their head in approval.

"Okay, Munchlax, use stockpile to harden your defences and start a roll out attack on Teddiursa."

Munchlax started its roll out quickly after stockpiling, but the speed of the beginning of roll out was quite weak no matter how skilled Munchlax would become at building momentum. Teddiursa was easily able to dodge the attack, and since Munchlax was locked into the attack until it was stopped, it gave Teddiursa plenty of chance to dodge and counter the attack.

"Now that Munchlax has built up plenty of speed, use counter attack Teddiursa."

That was bad for Munchlax. Munchlax couldn't turn enough out of the way to avoid the counter attack because of the built up speed. Teddiursa easily used the counter attack, knocking Munchlax unconscious by using the counter to plop it on its head hard with the momentum. Thankfully Munchlax has an incredibly hard head.

"Reaction battling huh? Then maybe I shouldn't lock myself into something..."

~~~~~ motioned to Braviary to take over. Braviary was incredibly fierce. Teddiursa showed how afraid she was of the Braviary.

"It's okay Teddiursa. Remember how Naeya handled her battles, and we can handle Braviary too. Use hone claws and focus your energy."

Teddiursa was the image of confidence when she finished setting herself up for whatever Braviary would do.

"Use acrobatics to set Teddiursa off guard, and follow up with brave bird attack."

Those attacks would have gone well, if they weren't expected.

"Teddiursa, use feint attack to catch the acrobatics and follow up with slash. After that, back up and use bulk up a couple of times."

She was doing plenty of countering and set up with Teddiursa. At the moment, Teddiursa was nearly as much a force to fight as an Ursaring would be.

"Braviary, go for aerial ace and retreat back a little before finishing off with a close combat."

The issue with ~~~~~'s way of battling, was they didn't use their Pokedex to see how much energy their Pokemon had. Meanwhile, Yuuka knew that Braviary had very little energy left to pull off the close combat. Since Teddiursa had defences and attack strength reinforced, and she hadn't really taken a hit yet she was full of energy.

Braviary went in for the aerial ace, and with Teddiursa's defences, she was easily able to take the attack. She took the attack and grabbed hold of Braviary by the legs, using body slam to finish Braviary's fight for the time being. Braviary didn't even have the chance to use the close combat attack.

"You're thinking about what's coming too much. Think simple. You gave me too much chance to set up with Teddiursa. With Braviary, using whirlwind to force Teddiursa temporarily from the battle, the set up would be gone and you would have been able to fight Eevee without the boosts to stats. Then you could have used close combat. Remember, I'm not experienced in battling myself. I just learned a lot from my parents and now I'm using their coaching. I'm not aiming to be one of the zone trainers, and not to fight the zone challenge. I just want to make friends and help take care of the people and Pokemon who have accidents during the battles."

~~~~~ sighed and called Sawsbuck back to the Pokeball as well and slumped onto the grass.

"You're really strong and that's good. You're also thinking, which is also good. You just need to concentrate a little different and you'll pass through this challenge no problem. Today Juieh finally started doing her battles and she's been struggling to get her third battle done. How about you and her practice together again until dinner time? I'll take care of our Pokemon's exhaustion from the battle while you rest a little and I let Juieh know if you're okay with that kind of plan."

~~~~~ shook their head and sighed again. It was a mix between sighing and breathing heavily against the heat of the sun from the very hot day they were experiencing again.

It was right around then that Naeya walked into the area with a lost expression on her face and Yuuka's thoughts were scattered. Yuuka ran over to Naeya, and ~~~~~ just continued to lay on the grass. They were fed up with the heat of the sun on them, so they grabbed their bag strap hanging from their arm and tugged closer before reaching in a putting their sun hat over their head and neck while pulling a thin blanket over to cover the rest of their body from the sun.

"I'm camping early today. Don't concern yourselves with me."

While ~~~~~ was sour about the situation and the heat, Yuuka was genuinely concerned with Naeya. Naeya wouldn't respond no matter how much Yuuka talked to her. It wasn't until a wild Persian tackled her by accident.

"Oh, sorry Persain. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Now...I was going to go see Mai..."

"Naeya, answer me! What's going on?!"

Naeya finally turned her attention to Yuuka a little. She looked at Yuuka with a confused expression. After thinking about it a little, she remembered.

"Oh right..."

"Naeya!"

"Ah, sorry Yuuka. I need to go see someone I haven't seen in a long time. Explaining would take too long."

"You're exhausted. Check yourself with your Pokedex once in a while, so you know how you're doing on energy. Besides, you'd be heading to the harbour if you were going to see someone from a while back."

"No, this person...it will take too long to explain. I need to stop her from doing something stupid."

"No, you need to stop being stupid and pushing yourself, dummy! You need to rest right now or at least recover your energy."

To which Yuuka pulled a max potion from the basket with her and sprayed Naeya with it. She checked Naeya's energy again, and thankfully it filled up part of Naeya's health.

"You really need to get some sleep..."

Yuuka silently called out Teddiursa and asked her to use yawn on Naeya to put her to sleep. After a little more walking, Naeya slumped over Yuuka's shoulder, and Yuuka brought her over to the safe area. When Yuuka laid Naeya down on the blankets of the safe zone, she watched in surprise as Naeya transformed in her sleep. Her hair grew out long, became white as snow, her skin just as pale and her clothes changed to something like an opposite and more attractive take on the cult's robes. Unlike the cult's black robes, Naeya's robe was as snow white as her hair and skin.

Yuuka panicked about the transformation, but first she needed to worry more about if she was medically okay, and rushed to grab the supplies she needed in order to check Naeya properly. Only, when she finally finished doing the basic checks, Naeya was only sleeping.

"Mai..."

Yuuka heard Naeya say that name again and she was genuinely concerned. Who was Mai? Why was Naeya so bent on going to her when she was exhausted?

"...you need to listen...to me...stop with the..."

Naeya stopped her sleep talking and Yuuka was baffled. Really there was only one thing that she could do for Naeya at the moment, and that was to let her sleep and recover before hearing out what was going on. Otherwise, she really felt it necessary to let Xhasca know that Naeya was resting there, maybe have Naeya brought to Xhasca's apartment so she can get a better rest than she would on the hard ground of the rest area.

Yuuka took a deep breath and pulled her Pokedex back out and pressed the option to call Xhasca. It took a couple of rings before Xhasca answered the other end of the call.

"Not often we talk. Aren't you the quiet and shy one of Naeya's friends?"

"Right, I'm Yuuka. Champion Xhasca, would you be able to come and pick Naeya up from the normal zone? She's asleep right now...and don't be surprised, but she transformed in her sleep and looks different. Also, she was sleep talking and mentioned a name a couple of times. It might be a common name here, but do you know a Mai that Naeya might push herself to exhaustion to talk to?"

Xhasca became concerned, but then she became confused.

"Mai is a common name used here in the region. That and Nai are common ancestral names from the founding of the region when humans began to settle here as the history lessons tell it. There's probably a lot of Mai that Naeya could have been talking about, but if we were to pick out an important Mai...well, the royal family stuff ended five hundred years ago, so there's no way that old twin princess is still around. What does Naeya look like right now in case you're busy with something else to point her out to me?"

"Naeya's hair grew out and it's white as snow, it's very straight but a little messy, her skin is about the same colour of her skin, and she's also wearing a white robe."

The other end of the call went silent.

"Hold the call close to her ear and we'll see if she reacts to this if I say it..."

After Xhasca said that, Yuuka grew worried. She followed Xhasca's instructions and said **ready** softly before Xhasca spoke to Naeya.

"Princess Nai, Princess Mai is pushing us too hard again."

Naeya stirred in her sleep and muttered something before saying something a little more clearly.

"Mai's a silly girl...she's just too shy to properly make friends...I'll scold little sis for pushing everyone so hard...we're all...friends..."

Yuuka trembled as she heard Naeya say something which genuinely shocked her. Naeya was still asleep after that. She pulled the Pokedex away and brought it to her face so she could ask.

"Wh-why did you just say what you did to her? Why did she respond like that?"

"Those features you explained. Snow white hair and skin in a white robe. Those belong to only one person in the region's history. Princess Nai of the founding royal family which went silent five hundred years ago. History books tell it that the family were immortal, but if Naeya really is Nai, then we know why the royal family were immortal..."

Xhasca's voice was sad as she said it though. It must not be a good surprise to hear about Naeya's identity also being as Nai. Maybe she was worried Naeya wouldn't see her the same way if memories of her time as Nai were back. That she might not feel the same way about Xhasca.

"Ah, either way, she'll be more comfortable in a bed than on the hard ground of the safe area right? I'll be there right away to bring her back to my apartment. Thanks for letting me know about all this."

Xhasca cut the call from the other end before Yuuka could ask more about the situation. She wanted to know more and watch over Naeya, but she was called over right away to help with someone who took a hard double edge from a Kangaskhan.

Minutes later, Xhasca arrived and knelt down beside Naeya, staring at the same figure which adorned the history books as the greatest leader the region knew until the tradition of Pokemon League was adopted into the region's custom ten years before. Naeya looked exactly as Nai was artfully drawn and rendered. There was no doubt that Xhasca still felt the same feelings for her, but she was concerned Naeya might not be the same way. However...Xhasca was still worried that Naeya might not continue to hold those feelings for her. If she remembered that much time of life, maybe more, then maybe she might no longer be comfortable with her name as Naeya. It was a name she'd only had for a short time after all.

Xhasca prepared herself mentally for the possibility that Naeya might ask to be called Nai at the very least, and reached underneath her. Xhasca was shocked for a moment that she noticed Naeya was far lighter than a human of the size she currently had. It were as if Naeya's mass as Mew was spread out to the image as Nai.

When Xhasca carried Naeya out enough to not endanger the people of the area, she had Gardevoir release Vesca for a moment, and there was another concerning reaction. Vesca purred and bent forward to rub cheeks with Naeya. She stayed bent forward, asking Xhasca to mount her back so that she could carry them.

"Isn't that the legendary Pokemon...?"

"No way. Champion Xhasca is an amazing trainer, but it's been ages since someone's commanded a legendary Pokemon. I'm more surprised that the Naeya girl transformed. Especially looking like that. The picture of the beloved legendary princess."

Xhasca was concerned about letting people see and speculate more about the situation without confirming more with Naeya when she would wake up. After mounting Vesca, she flew them through the sky to the roof of the apartment building, then channelled Naeya's energy to teleport them down to Xhasca's room. Vesca had never used teleport before, so that shocked Xhasca nearly as much as Vesca being kind at all after nearly murdering another Pokemon and all the cultist prisoners.

Inside the apartment room, Vesca was more careful not to move around too much and ruin anything. Xhasca first repositioned on Vesca's back in order to safely climb off with Naeya. When she finished climbing off, she immediately moved Naeya over to the bed and laid her down there. Xhasca could feel herself becoming a little tired, so she walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in. She didn't have other important jobs for the day, so she let herself grow close to sleeping before she noticed something else.

Vesca laid down next to Naeya on the floor beside the bed and snuggled her head on the bed next to Naeya's belly, showing how close she felt to Naeya.

"...stop...Vell...you're tickling me again..."

That nearly woke Xhasca up before her tired feeling caught up to her. Of course she was surprised to hear Naeya say that as well, but it wasn't nearly as surprising as the first surprise with Naeya responding the same typical way recorded in history books. Xhasca was about ready to accept the idea that she was indeed the person of legend, but it felt so surreal as she fell asleep that a legend was coming real.


	30. Chapter 30

When she woke up, Nai was greeted by the scent of food and a familiar tickle and face cuddling against her belly. She was in her second most comfortable form as Nai. She was confused when she noticed herself on a comfortable bed. Normally she would sleep with Vell on the nested floor of the cavern castle under the mountain where her and Mai created a few Heatran to relocate and forge the full body of the mountain.

The castle, inspired by one created in ancient Kalos, was instead of created in the middle of a vast field, forged in the growth of the mountain, on the base where they started the growth of the land. Just barely above the level of the ocean. They grew the land together so much...

"Oh, you're awake? Are you feeling hungry at all?"

Xhasca's voice called Nai out of her confusion at not being in the nest room she shared with Vell. It had been a long time since she last saw Vell. That was wrong though. She'd spent a few nights with Vell recently. They were in her form as Naeya though. She remembered that people were also calling Vell Vesca, and that Vell disappeared and reappeared often through the time Nai was gone. Vell was actually a twin to Vescalla. Nai created Vell to refresh itself frequently and hold Vescalla back from its violent nature whenever released. It was a countermeasure that could hold back Mai's irrational movements.

Mai was always very emotional. She couldn't control herself when she was concerned about something. While it was cute, it was also dangerous. She would endanger others, Pokemon and humans alike if they didn't do things exactly as she approved them. It was a terrifying thing and sometimes Nai thought about reworking her from base personality so she wasn't such an extremist, but she was a living being that should be allowed to express themselves. Mai just needed her guide to show her the wrong of her ways.

What was especially troubling with the current situation was that Mai had a lot of people following her example, a lot of people and Pokemon following her as a cult and they were threatening the very lives and livelihood of most of the world. Mai forgot the one important thing that Nai had taught her to cherish most. Bonds and friendship. Instead of friends, she was promoting slavery of those willing to serve her. Unfortunately they were many in number.

"I'm good Xhasca. I am surprised...but maybe I shouldn't be with how things have been becoming more and more crazy recently."

Xhasca shook her head. Nai sat up on the bed, continuing to cradle Vell's head on her lap and she watched Xhasca move around. She could tell that Xhasca's emotional feelings of their relationship were still there. It relieved Nai that the feelings were still there. She wasn't sure how she would go about everything if Xhasca became confused. It did however concern her about something else. What would she do about the time frame that she had with Xhasca? Xhasca was a human, and they had unfortunately short lives compared to Pokemon. A being which has been around for hundreds of thousands of years had a short perspective on human life. It was likely what made it so easy for Mai to discard and consider the people who willingly served her as cultists. However, on the prospect of love, Nai was in love with Xhasca, that was something she couldn't deny at all. Being in love was something terrifying on the possibility of losing the person she was in love with. The idea of losing Xhasca...even on the amount of time Nai had in her life before the time together, Xhasca managed to become important. It would be incredibly painful and last with Nai for a long time to lose a feeling so fulfilling.

"Well, finding out my fiancee is also one of the founding leaders of the region and arrived from another region is quite difficult to process. Along with her being a Mew. A lot of things to get used to. But I'm ready for whenever you're ready to tell me to tell me whatever you want. I just...want to make sure I guess...that our feelings are still the same. Because I'm still in love with you. I guess starting question would be how you would prefer to be called? Mew? Nai? Naeya?"

Nai was absolutely set on which name sat with her best. The name that she knew for herself even before Mai became part of her long life. It was Nai. Not Mew as humans eventually labelled because of the speech impediment Pokemon had from speaking human language.

"Well, remembering that I've been Nai so much longer than the region has been populated, I guess Nai would have to be my choice. Humans eventually started labelling Pokemon by the speech impediment most Pokemon have to speak so my species type is Mew, but I was named by my mother as Nai. I could go into a massive history lesson on me, but for now I have a big question for you..."

Nai couldn't find the courage to ask the question right away. She was more determined in other situations, but when it came to altering life, she always questioned herself. Unless it was something to heal another life, to give life or to create it, it was something she was apprehensive of.

"I love you too Xhasca. I love you so much...it terrifies me. Human lives last so little time compared to how long I've been around. I've been around since before Hoenn existed as more than an underwater volcano. I've been around since before this region was more than a mound of sand under the ocean. I've been around for so long, but after all that time, I finally find a source which fulfils me emotionally unlike anything else in the world. I'm terrified of the inevitability of your human life ending, because when I'll be left behind after that, I'll know an emotion I may never find again. What I want to ask...is if..you...would accept...becoming like myself and Mai..."

Xhasca dropped the mixing spoon she held onto for mixing the food she was looking after, quickly turned off the element and turned around before charging across the space between the kitchen and the bed, leaping onto the bed, hugging her face against Nai's belly, upsetting Vell a little for pushing her out of the way.

"I'm not completely sure, but is that a yes?"

"It's the most certain yes I'm ever going to say in my life. I was so scared that you might not keep the feelings you have for me, and then as you talked about how painful it would be for you to lose me, I hoped there was something we could do, but you were leading up to a question that I've dreamt of answering for such a long time. Yes, yes a countless amount of times yes. If it means we can continue our relationship without worry of each other with the bonus of me being as capable of defending myself as you, then there's no real question about it."

Nai almost became nervous about the food on the stove, but with the element off, Xhasca sure enough to leave it alone and her mind so focused on the happiness at the end of becoming a Mew like Nai and Mai, there was little else to do.

"Okay then. With Mai it was a happy accident, but I'm going to do this properly for you because the process is more than just a forced transformation. It's a solidifying of my energy, and passing it on as a new addition to your energy source. Mai didn't even exist before I made the accident with her, but I have made Heatran more powerful with my energy so that they could raise the region up from the high dune in the ocean it originally was. It's simple when I think about it, but it requires more work than usual. Let's move to the floor and sit down properly so I can do this right. And no, this won't exhaust me, although it will take a few hours for me to regain the energy I do use."

Xhasca was nearly incapable of sitting still with how excited she was as they moved to the floor. Nai managed to calm down Xhasca's body enough to start and began.

The process was exactly as she explained it. First, she peeled off and solidified a large mass of her energy. The solidified energy took on the shape of a massive liquid clump, which was moved to fill and surround the recipient's body, become one with their source of energy. When that energy filled Xhasca, the intent of becoming like Nai transformed Xhasca to her new form as another Mew. Xhasca kept the same pelt colour most Mew would have, but she instead had her pink eye colour made permanent instead of contact lens. After Xhasca finished transforming to her new form as Mew, Nai helped her transform back to her human form. To learn how to transform herself. Transformations were quite difficult unless you already knew a lot about Pokemon. Nai already had instinctual knowledge for the longest time of nearly every existing Pokemon, so she could transform easily. For the time being, it would be barely all Xhasca could do to transform between her Mew and human forms.

Xhasca smiled wide when returned to her human form. She crawled over and hugged Nai again. She was practically purring with how happy she was.

"I love you so much. It's...like I can't help but gravitate to you when I know your close. Now I can feel your energy as part of me, and I feel...so whole now. It's like the only thing missing is me becoming pregnant and having our child. This is far more than enough for now though."

"I feel bad for the food you made though. Becoming like you are now has taken away your appetite, right?"

Xhasca sighed when she realized it was the truth.

"Let's surprise Xharye and give her the food so it doesn't get wasted. We can also show off that I'm the same now."

"And I suppose it would also be best to explain the situation to everyone..."

Nai remembered that there was something else she needed to get to as soon as possible. She needed to go and see Mai. To calm her down and stop all the cult business.

For the idea of going over to Xharye's room, it was better that they make a normal walk over to her room before startling her further with Xhasca transforming to her new form as Mew. In that consideration, Nai told Xhasca they shouldn't push her ability just yet. Nai would definitely have to get to work teaching Xhasca how to make use of her transformations. There was an issue that might arise from other people knowing they could become the same as them, but Nai was confident Xharye wasn't as selfish as other people. She would have the patience and the mind of caution for something like them.

With those thoughts in mind, Nai and Xhasca walked to the door, out of the room and through the hall over to the door which was labelled with Xharye's name. Only her name, and title as chief research aide. It was interesting to Nai since she hadn't noticed there was such a title before, but a bit of effort into remembering told her that Xharye had said something similar in the past.

Xhasca knocked on the door of the room when the pair arrived at the door, and she called out that she had something to talk to Xharye about.

There was no immediate answer, so Xhasca became worried. Nai was more concerned and checked with her energy through the room, only to remember the horror on Xhova.

"Xhasca...please...go back to your room for a minute."

"Wait, why?! Why isn't she answering the door?! Darn it, if only the power came with all of the abilities you have with it!"

Nai shook her head and prodded Xhasca to go back to her room, which she finally followed, begrudgingly. As soon as Xhasca wasn't at risk of seeing the other side of the door, Nai transformed to her form as Mew and slipped through the door. Indeed, the other side of the door was a mass of horror. Luckily, there was still life, and she could use that as an anchor to return the pieces to whole. There were a few who were too far gone to save, but what troubled Nai most was that she had already used so much of her energy on Xhasca's transformation.

Starting with the closer to permanently dying, Nai pieced together Quendra's body and ensured that she was healthy before moving her into the area of the tank where she most likely occupied when they all would rest at night. The water tank and Quendra restored, Nai quickly got to work on the next. Altaria was just on the verge of giving out completely, but Nai was able to gather her up completely and fix her up, moving her to a part of the room where the slaughter didn't take place.

Nai was already crying by the time she started working on Quendra, but when she felt Togekiss give out, she couldn't hold back. She desperately tried to pull Togekiss' energy back and piece together the body, but it was pointless. Togekiss' refreshed body was empty. She continued on and tried putting all of them back together. At least Xharye was still hanging on well enough to live through it, but she was crying uncontrollably in the most desperate and silent cry she could. Nai was only able to save Quendra and Altaria before she finally returned Xharye to health.

Xharye still couldn't form a voice when her body was returned to health, which made Nai concerned she might have missed something. She made a detailed look over Xharye, and noticed that her nerves weren't connecting to the vocal chords. When Nai finished making the connection of the nerves to the vocal chords, they snapped painfully as they reacted to Xharye's crying.

She still couldn't form words properly, but it was most likely the trauma of what she went through. She was nearly killed. Nai was too exhausted to use her energy any more. She couldn't scan to see if the apartments had any more of the attackers. Nai quickly fixed the Pokeballs for Quendra and Altaria and held onto them as she grabbed Xharye around the waist and led her over to Xhasca's room.

At least nothing horrific started while Nai was trying desperately to save Xharye and her Pokemon. It was only that Xhasca opened the door for someone else, and was about to be attacked.

Nai used whatever left she had of her energy to knock out the cultists who had intruded and attacked the apartment building.

"I need...some time to sleep Xhasca. Xharye will be okay eventually. Unfortunately I could only save her, Quendra and Altaria..."

Nai passed over the Pokeballs for Altaria and Quendra and she brought Xharye over to the bed before slumping on it herself. Nai couldn't keep herself awake any more. Through her sleep talking trait which returned with her memories, Nai mumbled something important to Xhasca.

"Clear...mind...use skills...but...somewhere safer..."

"Xharye, what happened over there?! I already know about Nai would be exhausted after the other thing...but what did she mean by she could only save you Quendra and Altaria?"

Xharye shifted around on the bed out of Nai's hold and looked up at Xhasca with tears still streaming down her face. There was still blood on her clothes and all over her. That was enough to explain to Xhasca when Xharye still wasn't able to form the words.

"Let's get you cleaned up..."

Xhasca became quiet and angry as she thought more and more about it. Those cultists who intruded on her room would have attacked Xharye's room. It explained the situation. Somehow, they were able to fatally wound Xharye and her Pokemon, and because of that it strained Nai's remaining energy. Nai would have tried her best to save all of them, but she was only able to save Xharye Quendra and Altaria.

Xhasca called out the rest of her team, and Vell also helped to take care of Xharye to bring her to the washroom. To make sure Altaria and Quendra were well.

It was also a precaution. So that they would be ready for another attack, everyone was out and ready if the cult decided to show up again. Xhasca was devastated though. Not nearly as devastated as Xharye. Xharye just lost Togekiss, a Pokemon who was given to her as an egg by their parents years ago on commemoration of becoming a trainer. Azumarill was the very first Pokemon she had caught as an Azurill on the beach by the pier. Ninetails was with her for a very long time as well. During Xharye's challenge against the ice type zone, the Vulpix prior evolution was heavily injured from a battle she wandered too close to. Xharye barely managed to rescue the Vulpix in time. Froslass was also part of the incident, as one of the Pokemon who injured Vulpix back then. Froslass joined Xharye as a sign of repenting and ensuring Vulpix would no longer be so gravely injured. At least Xharye had plenty of her other Pokemon cared for by their parents, but the emotional loss of the Pokemon she grew up with was...it hurt Xhasca to think of how she would handle losing her Ampharos or Skarmory.

Steeling herself, Xhasca pushed herself to calm her mind and try at using her own ability which she received from Nai. When Vell wasn't occupied by the helping of Altaria, she moved over to Xhasca and helped her through the process.

The timing couldn't be more awkward as Xharye finished cleaning up and wore Xhasca's bath robe into the room and witnessed Xhasca using transform and finishing in her new form as Mew. Apparently the shock of it was enough for her to regain her ability to speak.

"What the heck?! Are you really my big sis Xhasca?!"

Xharye's voice squeaked a little in protest to shouting.

Xhasca tried to talk with her mouth, but it resulted in the speech impediment Nai mentioned before, only being able to put out the species name she gained. She calmed herself as much as possible as she could in the short time, and pushed words in thought to Xharye

 _It's me Xharye. It's still me, your big sis Xhasca. Nai and me were going to show you, but apparently while Nai was sleeping..._

"Nai?! Who the heck is Nai?! Is it the strange looking person with the same abilities as Naeya...oh."

 _Right! Naeya was really Nai all along. She must have remembered some time today, and that means she was-_

"Wait. Now I remember something. The history lesson the dragon zone originally taught all the time before I became the zone champion. That a long time ago twin sisters, one with pure black hair and robe, skin white as snow and eyes glowing an ice blue colour and the other sister with matching eyes but pure white hair and robe in contrast to her sister. The founding royal family of the region when it used to have a well known name...is she really the same Nai though? The royal family stuff ended over five hundred years ago..."

 _She's the same one. She was so afraid of being in love with someone who would eventually pass away with time, so she offered me the ability to be the same as her and Mai. She even knows Vesca - I mean Vell. She was going to wait until saying it to everyone, but she was going to explain a lot of her history. Surprising enough, Mai was a happy mistake apparently of Nai being clumsy a very long time ago._

Xharye seemed dizzy from the things she couldn't argue. Of course there wasn't much known about the founding royal family of the region, but before their rule ended five hundred years ago, it was recorded that they ruled over the region for a few thousand years peacefully. Nai was the beloved sister who everyone cared for, and she returned the same care to everyone as she would call them her beloved friends. Mai was more like royalty from other regions in the past, controlling and promoting of the people and Pokemon being mere slaves. Nai would set Mai straight often, but there were times when Nai would go missing from an act of clumsiness, or in the last case, a fit of anger from Mai which used Vescalla's power and knocked Nai far from the region. After that, Mai grew unbearably depressed, which led to her disappearance as well, and years later the cult began.

The history told of things that only made it harder to deny the possibility. The hard fact in front of Xharye was that her sister was now a Mew just like Naeya was. If Naeya really was Nai, it would explain the excessively long immortal life of Nai leading the region's young days with her being a Mew. Xharye had to admit, the white pelt Mew with glowing ice blue eyes was definitely something of curiosity. It really did match the girl on the bed going by the name of Nai.

 _So...you understand then right? Are we good? I only transformed in case the cult come to attack us again while Nai is asleep. This way I might be able to defend us a little better...except I don't know how to use my abilities yet. It took a lot of effort just to transform. Maybe it was stupid to transform..._

Xharye was still dizzy, but hearing that it was only Xhasca being thoughtful without deeply thinking, she sighed. Xharye had learned a few things, and it was possible that the two of them could work together to learn how Xhasca could use her abilities. It would be better if Xharye were the same and testing it out as well, but there were two issues with that. Xharye wasn't fond of the idea of also becoming a Mew though it would be emotionally awkward for Xhasca to stop ageing essentially at the physical age she had. Because if Naeya was Nai and she still had the exact same appearance as she had hundreds of years before, then no longer ageing would eventually make Xhasca the younger sister. Though inaccurate and meaningless if Xharye were to ask for the same, Xharye really wasn't fond of the idea of becoming a Pokemon.

Xharye and Xhasca worked together for a good few hours at seeing if she could learn how to use some of her new power. To which they eventually relied on cycling through a few of Xhasca's team from deep storage so that she could learn how to use each of the techniques the same way regular Pokemon learned attacks and other moves. By the time Nai woke up, Xhasca was able to use a wide variety of distance type attacks, and a small amount of physical abilities since they were trying not to ruin the room.

After all of the training, it was thankful that Nai had managed to fully recover in the short few hours she slept. Thankful, because Xhasca and Xharye were too exhausted to keep going after everything. The room was full of Pokemon, Xhasca stayed in her Mew form, and Nai took on her form as Mew.

 _I'll give you a better home. One that won't be attacked._


	31. Chapter 31

She thought it strange. Treiya had been able to get along so easily with a little explanation to Juieh and Yuuka. Was it all because of how everyone saw Naeya? Was it because of how Naeya had become? Or had Naeya used her abilities to convince them?

Either way she looked at it Treiya was happy. While her mind was still plagued by the horrendous things she had done in her past and the horror of what she went through for healing in the dark zone, she considered that another of her ways to redeem herself. She paid the price by remembering her past in full detail. As if it weren't enough before meeting Naeya again in the surprising way she did, it felt like Naeya had also used her ability to convince her mind as well. There was no way to tell the difference either way, but Treiya was happy that she resented her past. It would help her grow.

Her past would also help her teach, as she continued to help Juieh through the final estimated day for her to complete her challenge of the normal type zone. Juieh was doing well, and for the sake of getting it done as a way of showing her ability, Treiya also began her zone challenge.

With the additions of Swablu, Noctowl and Vigoroth, Treiya had already dominated three of her five required trainer battles before the afternoon toward her completion of the zone challenge. Treiya had it planned out. She would finish her final battle with Swablu and she would evolve to Altaria so she could challenge the flying and dragon zones with her. Noctowl would also be able to join the flying type zone, while Vigoroth was holding a gift item from one of the zone specialist trainers, eviolite. Eviolite allowed for Vigoroth to utilize the lack of being its final evolution and provide extra to its defences. Swablu had to be more careful when battling, because she had very frail defences. It would almost be a better idea to give her the eviolite, but Swablu had already proven to be very nimble and flexible. Treiya was proud of her current team.

Juieh was trying a little too far ahead of her abilities in battle, which really showed in how much she struggled in her battles. She tried to battle in a way that she reacted to the opposing team's attacks, but the issue with that is that she isn't planning her own side of the battle enough. While her Stantler was doing okay because she had already spent some time with her, she was neglecting learning how to fight with her other two team members. Helioptile had a lot of ability to make use of, and she was especially lucky with her Kecleon having his hidden ability of Protean, which allowed for him to temporarily adopt the type of attack he was using. Apparently that was an ability shared with Naeya's Greninja, but Juieh was ignoring it.

For the moment, they were in a pause after lunch before going into their afternoon battles, so Treiya decided to help Juieh with training her other team members. Juieh was very annoyed from how her battles in the morning went, and it seemed a bad mood to walk into, but Treiya was offering help. She at least hoped that Juieh would lighten up a little at the offer.

Juieh picked up her bag from the lunch site and started to walk away back to where she was doing her training. She just trained most of the day, and despite how good training can be, it won't go anywhere without the right motivations and the right pacing. She was pushing her team harder than they could handle and it only made things worse. The morning battles had left her team exhausted and even with the heal up during lunch time, they would still be tired for the afternoon training. Treiya dug into her bag and picked out a few chesto berries for Juieh's Pokemon to have when she would offer help to them. While the berries were usually meant to be used when a Pokemon was fully asleep, they were also good for helping the Pokemon regain enough energy to stay awake. Like caffeine.

"Hi Juieh. Since we were going to use the afternoon for training, how about I join you? Your Pokemon still seemed tired through lunch, so I'd like to offer them some berries to wake right up. Is that okay?"

Juieh faced Treiya and nodded her head. She wouldn't look at Treiya directly. Maybe it was the mood of Treiya's heart beating so hard when she met with Juieh for the first time with her new appearance, or maybe it was something else, but Juieh was avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

After getting the okay to take the berries from Treiya, Juieh's team hovered around her until they each had their share. They were all wide awake when Treiya finished feeding them. They were all happy and it showed on their faces, which was funny enough to make Treiya laugh softly.

"Did they do something to you?"

"Ah, no it's alright Juieh. They were just so cute with how happy they were, I couldn't help myself."

After she said it, Juieh turned away again and the air around them became awkward again. Juieh's team didn't appreciate her being as distant as she was, especially Kecleon who used a technique to trip her a little, and push her over to Treiya. Treiya didn't notice in time to catch her better, making the result...

Juieh tried steadying herself, but it only resulted in becoming more unsteady, and she fell back toward Treiya. Treiya was still absorbed in the activities of the Pokemon with them, so when Juieh gave a signal she was falling toward Treiya, the moment lasted less than a second and Juieh grabbed Treiya in a hug to steady herself. She had managed to build enough momentum to not fully catch herself on Treiya with the hug, their faces connecting in a...painful first kiss. Their foreheads smacked together, their teeth felt like they would break in the connection and the both of them flared up like an overheat attack in the immediate burst of embarrassment they both felt.

Kecleon chuckled at the result he got from tripping Juieh. Well, at least Kecleon's action broke the tension between them.

"K-Kecleon! Darn it, why did you do that?! I'm so sorry Treiya..."

"I-it's fine. Are you okay? That hurt a bit but I'm concerned you might have broken a tooth or something..."

Treiya's mind wandered back to the kiss, the feeling of their lips, their mouths connecting painfully. She was almost painfully aware of how much despite the pain, her body enjoyed being in contact with Juieh that way. She didn't know if she wanted that feeling or not. The joy their full contact gave Treiya, the good feeling as her heart pumped in her chest told her that she had feelings she would otherwise avoid acknowledging as long as possible.

"Ah...yeah, I'm fine too. You wanted to train with me for the rest of today right? You were doing really good this morning so maybe we could help each other with whatever we're doing better at."

Treiya was a little disappointed, but she could tell with how Juieh was acting that she was trying to avoid bringing up details about how they connected. Juieh was flustered and acting similar to how Treiya was, so it reinforced how she was feeling. It wasn't awkward for her. At least she wasn't making it worse with looking away like Juieh was.

Finally catching an okay rhythm with her heart beat and the surroundings, Treiya led the rest of the way with her team to the training zone they frequented. When they got there...Treiya was disappointed. She wasn't surprised though. Yule and his Zoroark dropped an illusion of them not being there, revealing themselves.

"So, it's not just me who's upset with you leaving after making a deal you'd work in our zone. Sure, we get the idea that maybe you want to spend some nookie time with the one you call special, but that smack of your faces hardly counts. Why don't you get it out of your system before I drag you back so you can work off what you owe us for saving your life?"

His tone, his expression, everything about Yule was no longer the joking and supportive crazy he was before. No, the crazy was still there, but he was revealing part of what made him the leader of the dark zone. He was intense, strong, confident and honestly frightening.

Juieh was startled, but rattled enough from before that she didn't catch what Yule said.

"I know I deserve far worse than I got-"

"You really don't understand. It doesn't matter if you're a million times more pure than the sluts who work the dark zone with me. We offered it straight up that we'd leave you alone, just work with us to pay off your debt. Wasn't sure what happened to you right away when you were pulled up out of the zone by your transforming friend. Found out in zone registry hacking today that you went and signed up as a zone challenger in the normal zone. It was fun seeing how decent you are at battling."

Treiya knew he was getting at something, he was just leading up to it. She really didn't want Juieh to hear it whatever it was. For so many reasons she didn't want Juieh to hear it, and that wasn't even considering the feelings she realized she had for her, but because it was things that someone like her shouldn't have to hear. He didn't give Treiya a chance to spare Juieh hearing it, as he started again. She desperately looked around for something she could use to stop him.

"What you don't understand, is that you are already registered working in the dark zone as a trainer and medic. You know what some of our trainers do when they lose a battle? They-"

Before he started saying something he wouldn't be able to take back, Treiya noticed a Whismur walking behind him. When she noticed Whismur quietly trying to go to its family, she rolled a berry in front of it. The Whismur chased after the berry, erupting in a cry that it was moving too fast. The thing about Whismur crying, as anyone who knew the first thing about it, was that the whole family were loud. Easily capable of bursting human ear drums. The sound of his words were drowned out, and he and Zoroark strained themselves, trying to bare with the pain of the hyper voice cry of Whismur. Treiya took the chance to call her Pokemon back to their Pokeballs and grab Juieh by the wrist, pulling her away. She signalled for Juieh to do the same, calling her Pokemon back to their balls. Then Treiya remembered that Pichu refused to go into a Pokeball, and she was stumbling to follow behind them.

Treiya pushed for Juieh to keep going forward, and rushed back to grab Pichu up so that Pichu wouldn't be abducted or something stupid. Just as Treiya reached out her wrist around Pichu, Pichu sent out a thunder shock ability around her, warning Treiya that Yule had pushed past the pain of the hyper voice. The warning came too late. He grabbed whatever he could get hold of first, which ended up being Pichu's tail, earning him quite a painful shock of Pichu's energy. Then he threw Pichu at Treiya and lunged at her, grabbing her by the elbow she didn't catch Pichu with. Treiya looked down to Pichu who was panicking and then to Juieh. The only thing she could do at the moment was throw Pichu over to Juieh so that Pichu wouldn't be stuck being abducted with her.

It wasn't abduction though, and when Juieh caught Pichu, Treiya smiled weakly, knowing that she only tried to prevent the inevitable before. He yanked hard on her arm, nearly dislodging her forearm from the socket. She yelped in pain, and the Whismur finally stopped crying, having caught up with the berry thrown to it.

"It's okay Juieh. I'm just...making up for who I was."

"No you aren't. Stupid selfish child. Know what? I'm teaching you a lesson as soon as we get back. What it's like to really live as a girl 101. The way Sev learned."

Treiya was instantly in tears when she heard what kind of plan he had for her.

"Just...Juieh! I'm sorry, but I have to say it now...! I love you!"

Yule brought down his free hand balled in a fist down on her neck, knocking her out as soon as she finished saying what she did to Juieh.

Juieh balled her hands into fists and faced Yule. At least it seemed other trainers of the area were alerted to what was happening.

"...I love you too, you idiot. Don't go giving up so easily. You're the better trainer, aren't you? So why not fight him and show him how strong you are? You were always so much stronger and more confident. When did you become like this?"

"Oh? What's this now? Girl Treiya nearly killed before is in love with her? Doesn't matter kiddo, I'm whoring out your girlfriend in our zone for turning her back on us. It doesn't matter what the people of this zone or anyone else say. She was registered as one of our workers before she was registered as one of the zone challengers, so she's my property. Don't like it, then you have to beat me and take my championship of the zone away. You have five days before I hold the next zone championship. But tonight she's losing her virginity. We'll kill her as soon as there's sign of you bringing that freak of nature in your group. If you alone can follow me and beat me in a battle before ten tonight, then maybe I'll consider handing her over. Zone rules apply. You need one full evolved Pokemon, and all three of your challenge team have to be dark type. Oh, win or lose tonight, she's losing her virginity. You win, we get to watch some nice amateur lesbian action. I win, well, if you show up to lose the battle, then you're watching me screw her brains out. If you don't show up tonight, either way I'm bursting that little cherry and making a mess of her."

Juieh was feeling her stomach churn as he described things he would do to Treiya. More than her stomach churning in disgust of him, her heart was thrumming violently, her face felt on fire and her anger was far past the boiling point.

"Whismur, use pound on his back legs! Kecleon, use lick to grab Treiya! Helioptile, use thunder wave on him and if he's still resisting, use thunder bolt! Stantler, back everyone up and use double edge on him if Helioptile can't handle him!"

For the first time, she felt she had true control over the Pokemon around her. Surprisingly, the wild Whismur listened to Juieh's command, using pound on Yule's back legs, making him lose grip on Treiya. Kecleon was luckily fast enough to grab hold of Treiya in the short time he let go of her. Helioptile got to work with the electric attacks. Yule really wasn't worn out from the electricity, so Stantler started her charge, slamming her antlers like lethal weapons into his gut, picking him up and severely punishing his body in the attack. Stantler threw him down to the ground with a grunt and nearly used stomp on his manhood before Juieh's sigh of relief distracted her from finishing him off in the most painful way.

"Treiya! Wake up, Treiya!"

Juieh had Kecleon use a light wake-up slap on Treiya, resulting in her finally waking up.

"You didn't get to see it, but I totally just beat the crap out of that jerk. I also..."

Juieh stopped her words to finish the sentence with her actions. She pulled Treiya up into a passionate kiss.

"Confessed my feelings to you too. You're Treiya, the girl I fell in love with when I met her. Not the bully who tormented me when we were growing up. You're not a person who needs to make up for the you you've buried. You're the second chance that deserves to live a good life."

"...but-"

"No buts! You've already paid me back. Yule is a horrible person to consider you or anyone else something he owns. He's scum. Don't compare yourself or your old self to him. You're you, and you now is a beautiful person who's doing everything in their knowledge and ability to help the people around them. You've also paid me back in being the person I fell in love with. If you go on punishing yourself, you're only bullying me again. So no more, okay?"

Treiya couldn't hold back the tears of joy as she hear Juieh defend who she had become. By the time she finished, Treiya was holding onto her with whatever strength she could pull together to hold Juieh in a hug.

"Really though...we should get him tied up or something and turn him over to the police. He's got at least a couple of charges on him when we testify against him right?"

Juieh nodded her head with a smiling agreement. She pulled a hiking rope from her bag, gently let Treiya go, sitting to watch as Juieh tied Yule up in a way that...well, surprised Treiya and almost bothered her. Juieh caught sight of the expression and replied with a questioning one.

"I just never thought you'd be so practised at such a knot job..."

Juieh smiled in embarrassment.

"Well...we...could use it...for other things..."

Treiya laughed in response. Laughing made her head hurt after the way she was knocked out before. She really had a throbbing headache. Even worse than taking the disgusting medicine of the dark zone.

Treiya felt truly blessed. Juieh was so amazing. She cleaned up her ability to battle in the heat of her fury toward Yule, she was able to see things in a way that made Treiya start to really believe she deserved the chance at life she was getting. She knew other things that could make their relationship interesting, and she was blunt with her feelings. Treiya's heart and head pounded nearly in synch with each other, telling her that not only was the afternoon eventful, she was definitely happily in love.

She shook her head, gently falling asleep to the thought that it was no wonder it was so easy for Naeya and Xhasca to fall in love. There must be something about the region that promoted the emotions and feelings to grow.


	32. Chapter 32

~~~~~ was tired just seeing the others. They finished their zone challenge in the morning while Treiya burned through her first three battles easily. There was too much drama around them, so it felt a better idea to just move on with their journey without the rest of the group. Despite the amount of learning and growth they could go through learning with the phenomenal trainers Treiya and Naeya were, the amount of danger and drama was just too much. Especially when they witnessed Juieh attack the leader of the dark zone.

"Because they love each other...what nonsense."

They muttered that to themselves. While they were a few years younger than the others, it still wasn't beyond their mind to be able to imagine love. Heck, maybe they could find love. Something formed over a couple of days like Naeya with Champion Xhasca on the day they met though? Something completely turned around like Treiya and Juieh's relationship? Not to mention them all being female.

~~~~~ was barely involved with them enough to know a bit of their personal back stories. Such as Naeya Juieh Yuuka and Treiya actually having grown up together on Xhova. Naeya being a Pokemon, even though she didn't know what kind. Juieh used to be male, but was transgender and Naeya used her Pokemon ability to transform her. Treiya used to also be a boy, but was transformed as well. Apparently there was some kind of voodoo going on with Treiya, because the previous personality was apparently a horrid bully that constantly bullied Juieh. It only confused ~~~~~ more to see and hear the two of them confessing their love to each other.

~~~~~ packed their Pokeballs onto their belt and heaved the egg back up against their belly and started walking away. Before they even made it as far as the barn, ~~~~~ was stopped by one of the zone staff. It was Yuuka.

"~~~~~, I just wanted to give you a little something I noticed you drop yesterday. You've been so distant with us ever since Treiya joined back with us. It was just...really awkward finding a good time to give this back to you. It's a soothe bell, so I figure you were keeping it with you to help along your egg there in hatching."

"No...that's not mine..."

"It fell out of your bag when you were picking it up and left us during the explanation about Treiya. Please, just take it back. It'll feel weird to hold onto this when it's much better used by you. I'm a little sad to see you go so soon, but you're dedicated to doing your zone challenge, and soon the rest of my friends will be leaving to continue their challenges as well. I'm not a thief, so just...take it."

Yuuka reached and tucked the soothe bell into the pocket of ~~~~~'s tunic and stepped back when she finished saying to take it.

"Have fun. And if you feel like visiting here again, I'll look forward to seeing you again. Good luck on your challenge, and I'm rooting for you to do well on your challenges."

Yuuka was supposed to be really shy and soft spoken, which only came through sometimes now. It threw off ~~~~~ the few times she became outspoken. Like shouting at Naeya about not treating herself well and that she had been in love with Naeya all along.

~~~~~ sighed when they remembered that even Yuuka wasn't immune to the drama her friends were involved in. In fact, she was almost the worst in never telling her feelings to the person she liked until there was no way those feelings would be reciprocated.

Finally leaving, ~~~~~ decided to go to the grass zone next since it was close. There would be plenty of new Pokemon to meet, and it would be a fresh start for the team after all. It would feel nice to start fresh after all of the things that happened in the normal zone. As soon as they started walking the path from the normal zone in the direction they knew to be the grass zone next, a Pokemon...approached out of the brush on the other side of the road from the normal zone. A Ditto. Regardless of the fact that Ditto were quite common in the region, wouldn't that Ditto still count to the normal zone's Pokemon? Wouldn't it be better to wait until another time for catching a Ditto? However...a Ditto would be able to fight in all of the challenges. Also, following what was said about an ability Ditto has, Ditto could be used to change how ~~~~~ looked at any time if they caught it.

"...can you come out of your ball quietly Guiiv? I want you to paralyse the Ditto in front of us with your lick attack and then watch the egg while I try to catch it."

Guiiv followed the request exactly, leaving Ditto paralysed, but not enough it couldn't transform to take on Guiiv's appearance. Guiiv still guarded the egg when ~~~~~ set it down and grabbed a Pokeball from their bag.

"Hey there Ditto...I just want to be friends with you. Would you like joining me on my journey?"

It seemed the Ditto wasn't enthusiastic on the idea. It tried getting away, but the paralysis effect stopped Ditto from getting far. When ~~~~~ threw the Pokeball at Ditto, Ditto disappeared into the Pokeball. It was too tired to fight back through the paralysis, so Ditto simply stayed in the Pokeball.

"Seems...I caught my first unassisted Pokemon..."

~~~~~ picked up the Pokeball from the ground and sighed when they attached it to their belt. After that, when they bent down to pick up the egg, they remembered that it would be difficult to get Guiiv back into the ball. Not that it mattered. Guiiv could travel alongside ~~~~~ for a while without any issues. Grabbing up the egg anyway, they almost dropped it when the surface of the egg began cracking.

Was the egg actually hatching, or was ~~~~~ too rough with it? The egg continued to crack, and after a short while, a Dratini slithered out of the crack of the egg. The cute tiny serpent dragon turned and looked up at ~~~~~, letting out a cute cry.

Now with a full party, ~~~~~ continued on to the grass zone. Dratini hung over the shoulder opposite where Guiiv floated beside ~~~~~, and the four Pokemon on their belt were peaceful through the journey.


	33. Chapter 33

"Princess, I'm sorry for the repeated failures..."

Mai continued looking out of the window space in the underground castle her and Nai built together a long time ago. It belonged to them, but she was continuing to let disgusting slaves occupy it with their worthless inability to do anything she asked of them. How difficult could it be for them to kill two young humans?

Mai couldn't blame them for their incapability in capturing and bringing back Nai. Nai was of course far too powerful for even her to bind down, which was why...she was so frustrated and lonely. She was upset that time felt to be slowing down for her, surrounded by the fools who devoted themselves to servitude under her. Humans seemed to make time slow down for her. Of course, Mai never really aged, so it wasn't that she was feeling older. It was that her perspective of time passing slowed down. What could equate to a blink, five hundred years dragged on like thousands of years without Nai. Why didn't she just go out and get her herself? Apologize and fix her memories like usual?

Mai knew the answer. It was her pride. Something that kept her referring to the humans and other Pokemon around her as slaves and servants. Something that kept her from showing herself to the rest of the region her and Nai built together. Her pride wouldn't let her take anything less than what she felt she deserved. To her, only she deserved Nai. Even though Nai never even let Mai meet their mother. Mai felt she deserved it. To meet their mother. Even though she already considered Nai her mother and not her sister. Because Mai existed only from Nai's energy...

"Just...leave. No more reporting to my personal room."

Mai continued to stare out over the giant cavern the two of them burrowed to the space under the region they built together. Another whole region under the region. She was still proud to call their home land the name they came up with together. Raenue.

The land underground was filled with bright ore filled with the energy of flash attacks to light up a good amount of area. The ore didn't show everywhere, but it showed wherever other residents of the underground caverns lived and occupied space. Some stone buildings for the weak humans, grassy full terrain for those type of Pokemon, magma pools and hot terrain for fire types...they had really thought it out so that any type of Pokemon could share the underground space with them.

The report Mai had just received after ordering a small group of the better handled human trainers of Pokemon, was that they failed to finish the job in killing either Xharye or Xhasca.

The two girls were a major thorn in her side. All champion candidates of the stupid Pokemon league they started above ground ruined her plans. One day, when Nai would return, they would return to ruling over Raenue. The league would end, and everyone would know their place under the both of them...

Mai knew that kind of scenario was impossible though unless she played around with Nai's mind. It was something she refused to touch after all their time together. She would never even pry into Nai's thoughts, because Nai was too precious and important to her. Her beloved family. Changing Nai even a little bit, made her no longer the same life she loved.

Just as Mai sighed and was about to move back to her nest floor to rest, she could feel the air bend in a familiar and shaking way. It made her tremble to her core. She knew immediately, that she had been waiting so long for that feeling to return.

"Big sister Nai!"

Nai wore a sour expression on her face when Mai turned and saw Nai the way she was. The years...well, Nai looked no different physically from the last time they were together in their human forms, but she was wearing an expression Mai had never seen her wear. Not in all their years together had Nai ever looked...disappointed.

"...sit down..."

As if Mai couldn't help but obey Nai's words, she sat down and the two of them ended up staring at each other after so long being apart.

"Do you need-"

"Help remembering anything? No, you already did that back when we were saving this cavern region we were working on before we made it another region underground. I'm perfectly fine. However..."

Mai was shocked to hear what she did. When she thought about it, she could remember exactly the time Nai was talking about. A day when they fell asleep together on the snow of the northern part of the above region.

"I assume your devoted followers don't simply act without you telling them something you want them to do?"

Mai shook her head.

"Humans are sometimes very stupid so it's only once in a while they do what I ask them. I just received a report that one of my better trainer groups failed to kill either of the champion sisters above ground. How incapable can they be? They're only children."

Nai became furious the way Mai was talking about Xharye and Xhasca.

"Do you...know anything...about my time spent with them?"

Mai seemed puzzled when Nai brought it up. Mai hadn't heard anything about Nai having contact with the girls who had been putting off her not so planned plans. When Mai shook her head in response to Nai's question, Nai sighed and shook her head.

"Well, not that I suggest a punishment, but your followers failed to tell you about my involvement with them. I'm in love with Xhasca, the current champion above. Her sister was nearly killed and since with family you can't help but become a little close to the family of the person you fall in love with, I'm fond of Xharye. I nearly exhausted myself completely trying to save her. Your followers butchered her and her team of friends the same way they butchered the family that helped me before my memories were restored. In all honesty, I want to personally punish all of your followers. Luckily I was able to save Xharye and two others she grew up with, however I failed to save the four other Pokemon friends she had with her. Also, there should be care toward Xhasca, because now she shares something in common with us. I made her the same. So that neither of us have to go through the pain of her passing with age."

Mai became dizzy with the explanation she received, but she was mostly shocked about one thing in particular she heard.

"Y-you...fell in love with a human?! That pest girl who's been stopping..."

Mai stopped herself from telling Nai everything. She knew she would be scolded for the plans she had been thinking of. It was her loneliness and want of Nai to return to her that led her to acting the way she had, so she could be forgiven, right?

"Xhasca has only been acting in the good for all trainers and Pokemon who have become friends. She supports what I've told you for ages. That we shouldn't be treating others, whether Pokemon or human as anything less than others with minds of their own, and at better as friends who only try to live their lives. I have many friends now Mai, so I want you to try making friends again. I hate the idea, but perhaps..."

As Nai was about to finish saying something Mai hoped not to hear, Nai disappeared...

Well, of course Nai wouldn't really visit her so easily. After all of the things she did...

Mai was confused though. Nai hadn't teleported there. Hadn't used telekinesis either. Nai really wasn't there, and really hadn't told her anything, so how had she heard those things she wouldn't otherwise know? She...had to go. She had to pull together her resolve and find Nai herself to ask those questions. She had to confirm if what she heard was the truth, even if she had to force her followers to say it. Was Nai truly in a loving relationship with that human?

After so long, Mai's only sister finally found a non familial love...and she was surprised to find herself wanting to support Nai in the love she found. She...could call another person sister if it all was true. Did Nai truly make that human girl...Xhasca, one of them? In that case, wouldn't it be grand for her to adopt to their name pattern and call herself Xhai when they make their relationship widely known?

Mai became excited at the idea of having another sister. Another person to call family after so long. Another person to help keep them together and stop the loneliness. To remind Mai that there were more like them in the world. Of course there was Nai's creator, her real mother, but Mai didn't know the first clue as to where she would start looking. Was their mother even of the world?

A knock rapped at the door to Mai's room, and when she turned to see the visitor, she was surprised to see one of her followers holding one of those crude disgusting devices they created to capture Nai. Such a device could even bind Mai, and she despised such a thing being created.

"Princess Mai, wouldn't it be a good time to finally show yourself above ground? There's already word spreading about Princess Nai returning above, so you should meet with her right?"

The woman was vile in every sense of the word. She was a mother of sorts to many of the followers. She slept with many of the men who followed Mai.

"Actually, I was thinking of going above ground. First however, I want to know why you haven't already heard of my new request that none come to my room anymore."

"Ah, if you refused to go above ground, I was going to trap you in this and bring you up there myself. Good thing you intend to go up there or there'd be a big mess and such. Ah, and I hadn't heard about your new request."

Mai glared at the woman. That woman continued to show how vile she was. Not only was she a slob and terrible person who used the people around her, she promoted the attacks on Xhasca and Xharye. Mai had to know. Was that woman really hiding such important information from her?

"Ah, another thing I'd like to know. There's a relationship between sister Nai and those girls you've been telling me about, right? A romantic relationship between Nai and the current above champion?"

The woman snarled as she heard Mai mention something she was obviously trying to hide.

"Correct, your highness. Princess Nai is engaged to marry the champion Xhasca. Unfortunately we couldn't finish the job in killing Xharye and Princess Nai protected them through her exhaustion. We did manage to kill four of Xharye's troublesome Pokemon team."

"Four...Well, I'm glad sister Nai was adept and adaptable enough to handle everything. I'm concerned she's pushing herself too hard. I want everyone to stop their attacks on Xhasca and Xharye. We're no longer going to try and stop their Pokemon league above. I also want those crude devices destroyed. Also, if those who performed the attack return, they must pay with their lives those they ended. I want to support sister Nai's love."

Mai could feel the resentment the woman had for her. She could tell that the woman still wanted to use the crude device, but Mai wouldn't have it. She would disband her followers, make them return to a normal life. If they would refuse, she would trap and imprison them all for their insolence and act of aggression toward her and the peaceful future she could have with Nai and further family they could have.

The woman noticed that Mai was starting to use her psychic energy on her to destroy the capture device, bit her lip to relieve herself a little of the energy, and tossed the device at her. Mai always knew she was slow on the draw to use her abilities and attacks, so unfortunately, she had to physically dodge the device. When the device clacked harmlessly against the ground, Mai crushed it under her foot and shot an energy filled glare at the woman, paralysing her in place.

"This insolence...what kind of punishment do you think you deserve? I have made several punishments over the years. Your attack against my family, Nai's love, against peace tells me a treason punishment is in order. I haven't given one of those punishments in a long time. I suppose...no, simple imprisonment will do. I'll craft you a special kind of unbreakable cage at the top of our region underground here so that you are forced to watch the peace that you tried to ruin."

"You've become soft after all these years, Princess Mai. It's almost as if you had a visit with Princess Nai and she straightened you out a little."

Surprised to hear another voice from the window, Mai blasted the woman with her energy before facing the other person, preparing her energy to bind the other person. Unfortunately it was a bad match she prepared her energy for. A dozen followers holding bags full of those hateful devices were riding on the backs of other Pokemon. They were all fighting against her. They...intended to use her as they pleased, like the terrible people they were.

Just as they were about to throw the devices at her, Mai used the binding energy on herself, coating herself in a protective amount of her energy. Thankfully it was enough to repel the devices. While she surrounded herself in the binding energy, she relieved herself of the human appearance, transforming to her appearance as a black pelt Mew. As soon as she was finished transforming, she continued to hold the binding energy just long enough to teleport away. To the top of the mountain, the summit where her and Nai used to sit and enjoy the sight of the accomplishment in finishing the creation of their own home land.

Mai was a little surprised there was some change to the space, but only a little surprised. She could tell enough that the space had been converted into a place where important battles would take place. She flew around, satisfied that none of the followers had managed to follow her through teleporting. There were a couple of people maintaining the cleanliness of the arena on the summit, who were shocked and staring at her.

Mai waved her right paw at the two people before flying off until she could feel Nai's energy. The sun was about to set. Her mind wandered to how many times the sun had filled the sky and the times the moon took its place since Nai suffered Mai's childish ego last. She had been underground so much of that time, it wouldn't be surprising to find that more time passed than she initially thought based on the followers' life spans.

Mai sighed as she passed over the land. So much had changed since she was last above ground. It wasn't disappointing or frustrating however. It was breath taking. It was incredible what humans and Pokemon were able to do together over the time she left them alone. They were able to work together on other regions after all, it shouldn't be surprising.

Finally, after taking in the sights of the type zones which were organized and the other locations scattered between them, Mai finally felt Nai's energy as she approached the light filled city while the sun was setting. Nai's energy...as strong and wonderful as ever. It was near the top of one of the taller buildings in the light filled city.

Mai felt she was intruding somehow as she approached closer. Nai's energy was still as kind and warm, as strong as ever, but...perhaps it was stronger, as it had grown so much compared to what Mai remembered. It was still recovering. Nai was so strong...

Finally, while camouflaging herself, Mai found the room that Nai was in. She was with quite a few Pokemon, a human girl and Mai smiled as she noticed one of the Pokemon alongside Nai's form as Mew was a pink pelt Mew. She was Xhasca, and the other girl was Xharye. Xhasca's pelt was so pretty, and Xharye was adorable.

Mai could feel her energy trying to pry into what was happening in the room more closely, but when she tried pulling her energy back, her energy had already identified that Nai was awake, and the girls asleep. Almost everyone in the room was asleep.

Nai floated up from the place she rested with the girls, and to the window, she was able to immediately recognize that Mai was there. Mai became nervous. How would Nai react? Would she be angry? Would she punish Mai more than the usual scolding? Mai was almost afraid enough to fly away and hide herself, but Nai wrapped her tail around Mai's waist the same way she did when she was keeping hold of Mai in the past.


	34. Chapter 34

_Mai..._

 _Sister Nai...I'm...I'm so sorry. I hurt you, and you were gone for so long..._

Nai was glad to see Mai, but she was concerned, what was the situation with the cult following Mai? Were they lying in wait somewhere for an opportunity to do something?

 _I'm okay Mai. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner._

Mai became happy when Nai didn't immediately get to scolding her for the things that happened while Nai was gone, but she could tell Nai was letting her energy peruse her mind just enough to know what happened with Mai while Nai was gone. Nai's expression went sour as Mai was reminded of the many terrible things that happened while Nai was gone. From the followers being horrid, to the last thing those followers tried to do to her, it all made Nai angry.

 _Things were difficult while I was gone, weren't they? Some humans can be truly terrible, can't they? Unfortunately, a following like yours often attract all kinds of bad humans with ill intent for others. This is why I encouraged you in the past to at least judge those around you on whether they're good company to keep around._

Mai started crying from how kind the scolding was this time. Nai wasn't angry at Mai at all, but the horrible people and the things they got away with while acting in Mai's name. Because Mai was too gullible and inept at properly conversing with anyone other than Nai.

 _So, are you abandoning your followers? That's the sense I get from how your last experience with them went. If you are, then we should get to work gathering them up and punishing them for their ill deeds._

Mai cuddled closer to Nai, bathing in her energy always gave her a fulfilling feeling, and hearing Nai being concerned at times like current gave her the feeling that was how a child felt about a caring parent.

 _Nai...I can't believe I let them create those atrocities. Devices that could even bind and control us. Those things...those people..._

Nai seemed to start thinking about something. Mai could tell that whenever Nai was thinking deeply, either she was trying her hardest to make the right decision about something. When she finished her thinking, she smiled at Mai and brought them back into the room where the other Pokemon along with the sisters were sleeping. Nai transformed to her human form Mai recognized and she followed the lead.

"It wouldn't be a good idea to show up like this in front of others. There are history lessons on us while we looked like this in the past I've heard. While it feels natural, I think we should go with a different appearance until we've snuffed out all threats from the cult. Since I had another appearance, perhaps we'll keep the twin thing going and you can copy this other human appearance I have, and you can see what the world is like above ground these days. Join the Pokemon league and see what life is like for a trainer."

Mai sniffed and nodded her head. She almost couldn't contain her glee at how accepting and caring Nai was being after all of the things that happened since the last time they were together. She wasn't even angry about Mai's mistake having Vescalla attack her in a fit.

"What will we do about them though? Those followers...the cult...how are we going to deal with them? Can we even do anything about them?"

Nai patted Mai's head like she used to and hummed.

"I have a plan. For now though, I just want you to focus and get the transformation right. You can invert the colours of the outfit so others can tell us apart a little more easily, but you're also going to want to grab a copy of the genetics I use to maintain the transformation."

Nai transformed to the appearance of the other human form she had which went by the name of Naeya. The slightly taller form with pale skin nearly as pale as their original human appearance, body shape a little more feminine than their Nai and Mai appearances. Clothing which decorated the body well in shape, Mai copied and reflected the colour of the outfit as usual, only to find that Xhasca and Xharye were awake. How long were they awake.

"I can't believe it was true...The founding princesses, transforming in sis' room."

 _It's nice to meet you Mai. I'm Xhasca. Nai hasn't had the opportunity to tell me much about you yet, but I look forward to getting along with you._

Mai was surprised at how fluent Xhasca was at using the telekinetic communication. It took her so long to learn how to communicate with Nai like that. She was almost upset a little in embarrassment at the situation.

"It's nice to meet you too, Xhasca."

 _Hey Nai, can you help me return to my human appearance?_

Xhasca proved Mai better adept at least at one of the abilities they shared. Mai was a little slow at it, but she didn't take long to learn to transform. When Nai shook her head surprisingly, she turned her attention to Xharye.

"You don't seem so mentally opposed as before to the idea of sharing our trait. What do you say to me providing you with the same as Mai and Xhasca?"

Xharye seemed ready to refuse right away, but her mind was confused. She was overwhelmed by all of the energy in the room, and if she was going to be spending time around them, she would prefer being able to handle it better. She also wanted to continue exploring the world in a way that she wouldn't be able to without the ability.

"...okay."

Nai smiled and she got them ready for the transfer of energy. Mai sat down on the bed beside Xhasca, only for Xhasca to seem a little upset.

 _Would you help me transform back, Mai?_

Mai smiled when she was asked the question. She passed the information she knew of transformation to Xhasca's mind. It was the only thing aside fixing Nai's memories she would do with another mind. With the information shared to her, Xhasca was easily able to transform back to her human form. Mai smiled when she saw how similar she and Xharye looked. Xhasca was a little older, and she wore a pink colour scheme instead of blue which Xharye wore. While Mai made the comparison, Nai finished transferring the energy to Xharye. In result of receiving the energy, Xharye transformed to her new form as Mew.

"If you were patient, you would have been able to compare, but regardless. How do you feel now Xharye?"

Xharye floated through the air comfortably a little. She smiled and started doing some tricks in the air. The other Pokemon in the room were all awake by the time Xharye calmed down from playing around with flying.

 _I feel...great. I can't believe how good I feel like this. Now I know what you meant when you brought up clothes being itchy enough to need to switch back to this form. Feeling like this makes me want to stay like this...indefinitely. Not sure how that would go with work though...which reminds me._

"You have about an hour before the city hall opens its doors. Before that, we might as well go about teaching you how to use combat abilities to defend yourself with that you could use even without transforming. First will be transforming you back to human appearance."

After Nai prompted Xharye's transformation back to human appearance, she pushed enough knowledge of transformation to get by for the time being, and then started teaching techniques she would be able to use in the case of trying not to reveal the change that she went through. She could just say she has a psychic type on her team who's grown enough to defend from inside the ball.

After about half an hour of coaching her, Xharye was able to handle enough of the abilities that Nai and Mai taught her that she should be perfectly fine even if the cult would go after her. At least that way, Xharye could protect professor Spenleaf. She could protect herself. The thing is, it really told Nai that they needed to work on capture cancellers which would work on the devices which could even catch humans in them.

Nai was too concerned to let Xhasca go back to her work in the law enforcement field, so she decided she would reveal their connection to the cult, to Mai and see if she knew or could influence them. She wanted to, but it felt to her that taking action against them without them making moves against them would only cause distrust with the other people living in the region.

Was it worth it to spread that knowledge to them despite the lack of certainty on what would happen? Would it be worth it to get the concerned and involved in something that could end up better or worse depending on the people who know about the situation?

Xharye left the room like normal, human form and everything. At that point, Nai looked to Xhasca and Mai, and she felt a sense of deep self consciousness rush through her. She was in a room alone with her sister that she had created hundreds of thousands of years prior to the moment, and she was also with the young human who she recently fell in love with. Despite how well Mai was acting about Xhasca, Nai had a feeling that it actually stung Mai a little that Nai was able to develop those kind of feelings while she was gone for hundreds of years.

As awkward as she felt, Nai was able to pull herself together and get a different mood going.

"How about we go introduce Mai to Yuuka Juieh and Treiya? I'm sure they would appreciate knowing family they never knew I had."

While Nai said it, she became concerned. Was it really okay that she brush things up and make them seem okay when they obviously weren't? She was suggesting something rather enjoyable at first thought, but there was the likelihood that the cult would go on the attack as soon as they were around other people. Nai didn't know what they were up against. What were they up against? They were up against a lot of people with varying mentalities joined together in the common goal of awakening Vescalla for dangerous purposes, and the same dangerous purposes could be done if they forcefully captured Nai or Mai in those devices.

Not only did they need to be on their utmost guard, the best idea for the current kind of situation would be to either hide, or go on the attack. Not only that, but while Xhasca and Xharye were now capable of defending themselves, they were also capable of the same feats of strength Mai was. Nai couldn't tell, but her power and energy had grown immensely in the time they were apart.

"Sure. I have some work to do with the city hall office this morning, so I could meet up with you in the normal zone when I finish up with that."

Nai panicked right away, signalling the both of them the concern she had about Xhasca going to the city hall for her usual work.

"Explain?"

Nai sighed and looked to each of them again.

"Xhasca, remember that I did that interrogation? During that time, and you'll want to hear this too Mai, I used my energy to get the answers I was looking for from the cultist. Fortunately, that led to him telling me what I needed to hear to be reminded of my past. He mentioned that I was the same as Mai, and well, that's not the case, since Mai came from my energy almost in a similar way to how you and Xharye now have the shared abilities. At any rate, being told that one of the cult goals is to bring the world back to the state it was in when Mai and I were caring for the region. This was the time when the name we gave the region was lost, Raenue was the name of our home. I never told Mai, but Raenue is actually the name of our mother-my mother, the source of my birth. When I was doing interrogation, I had this bright idea to pull the idiot to the past with me after transforming to take on Celebi's ability. After the interrogation, I returned to the past from the top of the city hall roof. From there, I noticed Mai's energy below ground, in the area which would eventually become the under region to the one you have known all this time. Yes, there is a region below this one in the ground. When I went to her, we finished supporting the structure of the mineral and stone. After that, since I used to be very clumsy, Mai immediately noticed my having forgotten again through amnesia. Mai has an ability to reverse the effects of amnesia, so she used that to undo my forgetting, which brought back all of my memories. She did that in the past, so in this time, she ended up thinking I would still need to have my memories refreshed. Fortunately, dream connection ability worked and I was able to ask her a couple of questions before waking up when you and Xharye became exhausted."

Xhasca and Mai were in deep thought processing the events which led to Mai knowing the situation, and Xhasca knowing how Nai remembered.

"The point that I was concerned about telling you just yet, is that my energy reaches out on instinct to understand the immediate feelings and thoughts of those around me. Which means that I was able to feel and hear how the workers at the city hall thought of my presence. They knew me not only through our connection, but through my connection to Mai. They were knowledgeable and same minded as the cultists I have probed the thoughts of. This means I'm concerned about you going alone to city hall and meeting them when there is a high likeliness they will attack you like they intended last night."

Mai started adding in there from what she gathered of those who tried to capture her, the general direction the followers had adopted.

"Those who devoted to following my vision of returning to the way things before were different minded, as they proved not to share my vision, but instead try and capture me in their new foul devices and use me like they have been threatening to do with Vescalla. The one who leads a great deal of the following, a woman who mothers most of them, she had been providing me with false word that you and Xharye were in the way of the future I was looking for. They convinced me to give the order to have the both of you killed, but thankfully Nai has been so exceptionally capable of handling them and managing to save Xharye, because if Xharye hadn't lived...I would have been too afraid of facing Nai. Those people seek to kill you and Xharye though. I am concerned about Xharye going to that place called city hall if some of my following are going to be there. We did coach her well in being able to defend herself, but I am still concerned that it's too much a risk at current for her ability to control herself. Even I am not as adept at using our abilities as Nai. I can remember as if it were only when I just last woke that Nai was able to handle using up to ten different skills at a time, and in quick succession use another skill as soon as she finished using one. I would be concerned for her regardless because she pushes herself to exhaustion quite often and that lowers her ability to respond and use her ability nearly as well as she normally would. For you, you would be entering a place with a lot of those people. The unfortunate thing in my case currently is that I don't know how many are influenced by the cult formed around the illusion they work with me. I do not know a single person specifically aside the atrocious mother character who led the attack on me. I believe that if you are required to continue being in contact with those people, Nai and myself accompany you to ensure we all stay safe. There are finally more like Nai and myself, and I don't have Nai's ability to pass on energy to another. I want to cherish the new family Nai is building with you and Xharye added to those with our abilities and immortality."

Xhasca was surprised, but by the time Mai finished talking, she was smiling.

"Nai, you were so quiet when we first met. You were shy and didn't talk much. With Mai, it's like the talkative side of you came out. Mai, you talk plenty too, and it makes me feel all the more safe with you both around when you're so concerned. I'm perfectly fine with you coming along for my work, but it's nothing fun, nothing interesting. While defending ourselves might be interesting, I don't want to burden you. Isn't there a better way of handling them? I would figure with all of the experience the both of you have, you might be able to come up with something that would answer this without putting any of us at risk."

For some strange reason, as Xhasca said it, Nai thought of something they could do together. Or something she could even do on her own. They didn't need to make a full announcement to the entire region that the princesses returned, the founders and creators of the region. They could simply use their psychic energy to project what they see of their actions tying them to the cult into illusions spread through the city for everyone to see. Make their actions and involvement well known so that the people lose their trust in them and it would turn everyone not involved against them. There were plenty of strong trainers already in the region more than capable of fighting against them.

There would also need to be a warning about the capture devices those people use. Nai explained the new ideas that came to her about how to deal with it, and it brightened up the mood between the three of them considerably.

"So then, for the plan, how are we going to go about this?"

Nai already managed to come up with a way of transmitting the information to the city. She would make herself invisible with the camouflage ability and use her psychic power to prompt cult connected city hall staff to talk to themselves about the capture devices and the goals that the group all had. As Nai explained this, Mai showed a visible discomfort to the prompting through the psychic energy, but she couldn't complain because there was no better method of exposing them than to prompt them to speak of the thing they were already connected to.

"Alright, so now that we're decided on that, Mai, I'll send you what I see and hear through the energy, and you can expand and show the results to the city by turning it into something like a poster visualization in the sky. Far above the city hall would be a good place since that's a place where most of the city would be able to see it from. Xhasca, I'd like you to support Mai in case she doesn't have enough energy to hold the projection."

While Mai was still a little uncomfortable with the idea, she sighed and nodded her head in understanding. She knew that there was nothing more she could do than cooperate if she had any hope of making up for the things she had done to Nai in the past and what she allowed to happen to the region they created together in the hundreds of years since the incident that separated the two of them.

"Oh, and when we finish with getting everyone stirred up and against the cult and those who work with the cult, I'd like to take Mai along with me on the zone challenge to show her all of what that's about like I mentioned before. While we're doing that, I know it's a lot to ask, but everyone will be looking for some kind of leadership. While Mai and myself are accustomed to leadership, you are the current sign of leadership as the current champion of the region. I would like you to tell everyone that we have returned regardless of us not announcing it ourselves just yet. I'll return often to plan things out with you on how we'll move the region forward to self enforcement without the governing system. Without the cult and police services. We'll promote trainers who have the inclination for it and the ability to being the new policing service who will regularly patrol the region from the skies...well, we'll continue going through with all of the further plans later. Until then, we have to get this set up of the involvement with the cult done so that we can get everything else rolling."

Mai and Xhasca nodded their heads, and so they moved to their positions. Before she started her part, Nai warned Xharye about what they were doing, so that she could continue to keep herself prepared. So that she knew everything that was going on. So that she was prepared in case she noticed a lot of trainers rushing into the building to start acting as a police force to take down the collaborators of the cult.

After informing Xharye, Nai disappeared with her camouflage at the entrance of professor Spenleaf's lab and made her way to the law enforcement floor of the city hall. There, she realized she didn't even need to start prompting the first few people. She sent exactly as she said what she saw and heard from them.

"So then the higher ups are finally making their move?"

"Yeah, and they're making use of these strange capture devices that even work on humans. We need to be really careful or use these special glove which only the higher ups have in order to not worry about getting stuck in them ourselves. Seriously though, this puts us at the top. Screw those pretentious trainers and nobodies who spend all day playing with their Pokemon. We're the top, they're just brats."

Nai had to hold back from reacting to them or punishing them. Instead, she moved on until she found another person. That person as well was already giving themselves away.

"I wonder what it's like inside the new capture devices. Apparently it's supposed to be the same as usual, but no human really knows what it's like inside of a Pokeball. The manufacturers say it's a perfectly fine and safe environment, but I really wonder...I'll go see if someone will let me out of it if I willingly go in..."

That woman was the perfect example of showing what they could do with the devices, so Nai followed her. It only took a few seconds for the woman to find a person who agreed to let her out of the device after she checked it out.

She tapped the button on the device, sending her inside. The other person laughed and mocked that he wouldn't let her out, to which he bent down, and Nai used her energy to open the device, putting the woman into a precarious position falling on top of him. Nai continued to transmit what she was seeing there as they struggled to get decent and hear what the woman had to say about being in the device.

"Must be a little faulty or something if it let you out like that..."

"It was really interesting though! It was like being in one of those giant Rattata fun balls. You know, those things that were really popular when we were kids. It was all see through and stuff, but I became smaller. It was like time didn't pass though, because I only understood what it was like inside then was immediately out. That would be terrifying to be trapped inside long term and be let out after like a few weeks or a month. It's like a prison or something."

"Are you daft? Of course that was how they were made. The higher ups don't want people trapped in them to be able to talk about what they might be able to witness when we hold onto them. Imagine everyone finding out about these. Can you say age of slavery has returned fast enough? Not that we're any better making them and intending to use them that way."

Nai managed to get more than she intended from that pair of them, and moved on to the court room. Apparently the whole involved staff were talking their ears off to each other about how much they're involving themselves with the cult.

In the court room, there was a small gathering of about a dozen of them with the judge, and they were all talking about it.

"Remember, when she shows up for her duties this afternoon, we put champion Xhasca in one of the capture devices and destroy it while she's inside. Finally end that foul brat's hold over us because of that stupid champion trainer status. Us people who put years into this profession are the ones who deserve to rule over the region, and anyone against us might as well be put to death in our capture devices. Gone. None of them deserve to live. She will only be an example to the masses of ignorant and arrogant trainers prowling the region. That we'll eventually get rid of them all."

Nai stopped sending the information to Mai and Xhasca, sighing in relief when she got outside and watched the last few seconds replay in the sky far above the city hall they had broadcast from. The whole city was roaring with differing opinions. There were people who were in agreement that they were in favour of snuffing out trainers, while all of the trainers started their work binding those foolish instigators and charging the city hall. Just as Nai had planned, the powerful trainers of the region were ready at a moment's notice to do what was right.

Nai Mai and Xhasca gathered on the roof of the city hall, and they all planned how further handling the situation would go before Nai and Mai would continue the zone challenge as Naeya and Maeya until they were finished and ready to return to their original job of leading the region.


	35. Chapter 35

"Well, nobody other than Naeya can be involved in that kind of crazy thing. A projection of government workers tied to the cult for the entire city to see. We're able to see and hear everything from here in the normal type zone as well, so maybe the other closer zones to the city can see that. Wonder what the inspiration for this kind of thing was?"

"That would actually be so that me and sis can soon return to what we were supposed to be doing from the beginning. Sorry for interrupting you there Treiya. Everyone, this is Mai. She's my little sister. I'd like everyone to call her Maeya for now. Also, my original name is Nai."

For those like Treiya who actually studied enough to understand the meaning of those names together through the history lessons even on Xhova, it was a revelation to hear about the sisters being who they were.

"...how?"

Treiya was confused, but was ready for Nai and Mai to explain. Treiya and Juieh were getting ready to finish up in the normal zone before evening, and their morning was interrupted by the panic of the big event in the city caused by Nai and Mai.

"How to what is something that I might say if I wasn't planning on telling you all what was going on, but for now, let's go get some privacy so I can explain the situation with us."

After Nai told them they should find somewhere they could talk in private, the group headed to the forest within the zone and Nai set up a barrier around them so Pokemon and even cult attackers wouldn't be able to interrupt the meeting. Aegislash and Greninja finally returned to Nai, cuddling against her after she separated from them since the period when she went to the interrogation. She left all of her team with Yuuka so that someone was taking care of them while she was doing work. Yuuka was also included in the meeting so that she would know the situation.

"Alright now...Time for me to explain. So I'll start with the very beginning and make sure that my friends from Xhova know the basic history of Raenue, the name this region originally had but was lost in time."

Treiya nodded her head, Juieh was surprised by Nai knowing the original name of the region and Yuuka was confused.

"Um...why would we need to know the basic history lessons about the country?"

"So I can tell you the differences those who wrote our history lessons had from reality."

Yuuka nodded and sighed. She was growing about as tired of the drama surrounding the group ~~~~~ was, but she couldn't deny that they were her friends and she couldn't just leave them alone like ~~~~~. She almost envied them.

"Alright then, Now, we'll start with my personal history so you know who you grew up with better. My original name, given to me by my birth mother Raenue, is Nai. She created me out of her loneliness and many other similar to me, but she created different children in different regions to be their guardian deities. Many people now know them to be the legendary Pokemon of the regions. Such as Kyogre Groudon and Rayquaza of the Hoenn region, Rezekyu of Unova which was later split to Reshiram Zekrom and Kyurem, Articuno Zapdos and Moltres of Kanto and so on. Myself as her original child wasn't given a place to protect unlike the others, as she created myself in her image. She even created Arceus Giratina Palkia and Dialga of the Sinnoh region, so she predates even the Pokemon which is commonly mislabelled the creator of the world. She did that."

During a brief pause in between Nai describing that, even Mai had become absorbed in learning a little more about the history of the world, not just Nai. They had learned a lot together, but it had been so long since Mai explored the world in favour of the comfort of their underground castle. Treiya was focused, trying to remember as much as possible so that she could possibly teach the true history some time in the future if she ever had the chance. Yuuka was baffled, and Juieh was still confused.

"For a few million years after mother created me, she kept me around her until she became more interested in watching what my other siblings were doing in their regions. During the beginning of her watching the others, I started clumsily doing the same, wandering the lands created by her other children. I didn't have full control over my abilities, and after a tumble down mount Coronet, my energy split off another life from myself, my first creation of life, Mai who is sitting here with us. Mai and I travelled the regions together, and she helped me with remembering things when my early clumsiness gave me amnesia from hitting my head. She journeyed with me and helped me over time become more steady on my feet so to say, but floating around was quite difficult back in the day. Now it's easier than walking. After a while of us exploring the other lands and meeting the Pokemon and people who resulted of our siblings playing around, Mai and I decided to make our own home region, which we built up from an underwater volcano which is now the mountain just short of the northern most part of the region. I created the many Heatran of the world during this time, to help promote the volcanic action and strengthened the Heatran of this region particularly more so that we could get a good basing for the growth of the land. About eight hundred thousand years of forming the region through Heatran's work, and we arrive at a time where Mai and I started working on the underground part of the region at the same time as providing forested area. This area would be included in what once was a swamp, but hundreds of years went into turning this area underground into a stable mass of mineral capable of withstanding contact with water without breaking down. Raenue is the only region which has as much space in the underground section of the region as the above ground. When we were finally satisfied with the land we built, we had fun. We created species of Pokemon which were unique to our land, imported Pokemon species from other lands to share with our siblings so that we could have a large variety of friends here, and finally, added humans to our land's population. Personally, Mai and myself were unable to communicate well with the Pokemon of other regions because of our energy being too powerful for them to handle, so the Pokemon here for a very long time were like Aegislash and Greninja, powerful and aggressive toward humans. The addition of the human population promoted that we work with the many species of our land to become friendly with each other, which eventually led the people to looking for a leader. Unlike the other leaders of regions, I was particularly fond of becoming friends with the humans and Pokemon of our region, which led to Mai and myself creating the earlier transformations of ourselves known as the founding royal family of the region. For hundreds of years we led the people, and unfortunately this brought out a side of Mai that I never expected. During this time, she created Vescalla, an embodiment of her resentment of the human population who she preferred not interacting with at all. I created Vell, a protector capable of holding Vescalla back and reminding Mai that we are meant to be friends with our people, not tyrants like leaders who were showing up in other parts of the world at the time. A time when Mai was particularly perturbed at the state with other regions having their great wars, she raised the question of why we weren't involving our region with theirs. I refused to join the needless violence, which earned a little fit which had Vescalla strike me hard enough to give me amnesia once again. This time, I was dazed for a time, and floated to Kalos through the confusion. There, I landed in the Pokemon league headquarters where Navella, the mother you witnessed me to have, found me and she and her husband decided to raise me after realizing they couldn't find my parents. During my fall into the Pokemon league there, I lost my memory again, which led to my confusion of never having been who I was. From the confusion, my body naturally continued to transform using the contact with the human parents who raised me again, bringing this version of myself you know. Knowing this while I and Mai are in fact white and black pelt Mew according to modern research through Pokedex, our pelt colours should not exist. More of our species have shown in other regions through things such as Arceus trying to use our unique ability to create copies of us, creating the common Mew of the world."

Nai took another break, and even Mai was surprised at the result of what happened with her tantrum with Vescalla. Everyone was surprised, Treiya more with how Nai was able to explain so much without taking a break in between.

"Now with the events that are occurring from a cult forming around Mai's intention to bring me back to this land, the cult and other people who are tied to it are more into the idea of becoming the tyrants of old and enslaving the humans and Pokemon of the region. Those who were never open minded enough to become friends with Pokemon and reach for strength together. Those people who are too self centred to consider the lives of the others around them as anything other than an obstacle. Those are the kind of people we are dealing with, and so now this region full of capable trainers are fighting against the humans with atrocious mentality. When Mai and I have finished our experience of the zone challenge league which formed here, we will reveal ourselves as who we were and do what we were originally meant to do, lead the region in a peaceful and friendly way which will continue the traditions which have formed in the world over time."

Nai finally finished explaining, skipping plenty of the finer details of the history, but it was enough that Treiya seemed she understood. Mai nodded her head in agreement. She preferred the idea of working with Nai than having the before issue arise again. Nai disappearing again. Mai had plenty of time to grow, and now she had a better mind about herself than before. Yuuka was looking around in disbelief to see if anyone believed it. Juieh was still confused.

"So, you're really a super ancient Pokemon?"

Nai frowned.

"I prefer to call myself ageless instead of old, thank you very much. I've been around far too long to put a number on how long I've been alive. Mai is the same as well. We aren't fond of being called old."

Juieh sighed and asked another question.

"So, then it makes it really weird with me considering you my sister since you already have a sister...who came from your energy which would biologically make her your daughter...I'm probably thinking in a totally messed up order and...oh boy."

"I'll explain it in a way you'll understand later, Juieh. For now at least I feel I understand. Nai is one of the origin ancestors to the entire world, a super Pokemon beyond the capability of even legendary Pokemon. Mai was created from Nai's energy so she should be about as capable as Nai...I don't understand how you can't just manipulate all of the cultists to put themselves in jail, maybe your morality. Otherwise, it's really interesting to know that originally the region might only be maybe around the size of Xhova at this time without your work on expanding it. I am curious on if Heatran is still living in the volcano..."

"Yes, Heatran is still there, enjoying the heat and passing the days sleeping peacefully. Heatran has a cavern sealed off from others so she hasn't had company in a long time. Sometimes I visit her and enjoy the warmth a bit."

Mai finally spoke up when she answered the bit about Heatran.

"That's interesting too. At least Heatran doesn't have the risk of trainers going around trying to capture her. That would be very annoying. Plus she's only resting. I am curious about finer details, but we don't need to have everything explained in one day. I would like to bring something else up with Naeya-er, Nai. If it's okay with you Juieh..."

Juieh immediately became flustered. Mai held Nai back from having her energy find what they were talking about, but it didn't matter. Nai waited patiently. It seemed that certain situation changed how Nai reacted and chose to act about things such as with the people from Xhova.

Juieh decided to be the one to tell Nai, blushing hard as she whispered the words. While Nai and Mai were able to hear what she said, Yuuka didn't hear and didn't understand the mood enough to practice keeping her mouth shut.

"I can't believe you're so quiet. Lately you've been really talkative."

"Ah geez Yuuka! Fine! Me and Treiya started dating! We've already kissed and everything! You're such a jerk Yuuka!"

Juieh got to her feet as she shouted at Yuuka for her lack of sensitivity. Juieh blurting it out certainly got everyone's attention, enough that it made Treiya embarrassed.

"N-not...everything. Don't say something like that...the most we've done is kiss and sleep beside each other in our sleeping bags. Again, not everything..."

Treiya was beat red as she explained in more detail the degree of how much the relationship had progressed. Eventually the embarrassment pushed her to speaking more quietly as well.

Nai smiled and giggled a little at them.

"You're really cute together. It's a little funny considering how everyone was before. I'm really glad Treiya used suggestive energy on herself to change her mind so much."

Treiya's embarrassed expression dropped and she stared at Nai with a questioning expression on her face. Treiya's stare was powerful like she was trying to use a Pokemon ability.

"What do you mean by suggestive energy?"

"Ah, because you all were exposed to my energy for as much time as you were, you should be able to subconsciously use some energies that Pokemon can use. Treiya used the same suggestive energy that would equate to the amnesia technique some psychic types can use. The way you used the technique was through your sleep as I recall, feeling a desperation to change yourself so that you wouldn't have to worry about running into people who would recognize you. This led to your dream fuelled by the energy which has still been reworking your mind to convince you that the dream was how you really lived your life. While that can be confusing, it does work wonders. It's dangerous to have the energy doing the same thing for too long, so I'll remove the effect of it continuing to dry out your physical energy. Your mind is stuck the way it has become, so no worries on returning to how you were. Just know that being a little more determined might allow you to use these techniques."

Nai removed the conduction of the energy, which immediately showed in Treiya becoming more loose and full of physical energy.

"So...we can do things like using the flamethrower techniques if we're determined enough?"

"Ah, generative abilities maybe not so much unless with the reference to flamethrower you're doing something like an ember instead. Humans technically don't have the energy in their bodies to use generative techniques like flamethrower or water pulse. Something more like as already said like embers or bubbles or leaves would be more realistic. Unless you would like a little more energy added to you? I wouldn't be able to do as much as I have for Xhasca and Xharye, not unless we gave my body some time to reproduce energy to give between each of you. Enough that I wouldn't need to recharge would give you the ability to use average Pokemon techniques depending on how knowledgeable you are of the techniques."

Mai seemed concerned that Nai was offering to give so much energy so soon after giving to Xharye and then doing the whole broadcast over the city not long before the conversation, but then she could tell the energy was far more than bountiful enough to share. The energy around Nai at the moment half of it was more than three times the energy Mai had with her at strongest. Nai's energy level had become frightening.

"That...are you sure about doing something like that Nai?"

Treiya was the person to ask the question. She seemed greatly relieved after the use of her energy stopped. However it also meant that she was thinking even more than before when she asked the question she did of Nai.

"Oh, it's definitely fine. I'd only be giving enough that all three of you would have about a third of what I gave Xhasca and Xharye. In case you were wondering the difference in amount, the full amount I gave to them changes their base form to that of a Mew with their pelt colour the same as their favourite. They can still transform back to their human forms because their human genetics are a physical part of their being regardless of Mew being their base form or not. It does simply become a transformation however. The difference in what I would give the rest of you on the current offered amount is that you would be able to learn and use nearly any technique other Pokemon can use. This way you don't need to struggle with getting your Pokemon from their devices to protect you from dangers which can happen on the journey. I would feel better giving you the ability to protect yourselves instead of needing to depend on your Pokemon. A secondary effect is that the energy will expand on how long you'll be able to live. Your bodies will age slowly. A full dose would render you immortal and ageless. The full dose is restricted to...the time between recharging is roughly three hours, so by sundown I could have our whole group as the same origin species. I'm personally in favour of all of us being able to continue on together into the future, however, I leave the decisions to you."

Yuuka had a question on her mind.

"If we ask for as you call it the full dose...will that give us the same ability you have of being able to heal any injury as long as the one receiving care hasn't passed on? If that's the case, then I would like to accept that...so that I can heal people and Pokemon the same way as you, Nai."

Nai frowned in immediate response.

"There's a little more than just having the right energy and enough of it to heal those injuries. The real trick is knowing what to do with the energy. You would need to know in detail what the inner workings of your patients are like. I would only recommend my method of healing to one who has studied genetics and body structure for many years...but I could transfer my knowledge of that to you as well. I would need to wait until my energy is completely full though, so that should be fine to do tomorrow if you are the first to receive energy."

Yuuka looked to Treiya and Juieh as if asking their permission.

"I'm fine with you going first since your intention is to keep on healing people and Pokemon like super doctor Nai. Heck, she might teach you how to do the force transform trick like Ditto can do as well. Her version is a lot less creepy and disgusting though."

Treiya's opinion was about what Nai had come to expect from the new personality which formed inside of her. She smiled and continued to wait for further decisions between them. Juieh still seemed confused, but she was also thinking hard about something. Nai felt the urge to pry at those thoughts, but she held back since it was people she grew up with. She had a feeling what the thoughts were about either way.

"Um...since...Treiya and I are completely female...we won't be able to have kids. If one or both of us takes the opportunity to have the full dose as you called it, we would be able to transform physically to a point that we would be able to have children together right?"

Nai giggled and nodded her head in response.

"Yes. Actually, the amount of energy both of you have right now is about right that you could transform your bodies to form...well, what you used to have, but I recommend against confusing your mental genders with your physical properties. I could teach you how to transform as well. The risk would be, if a pregnancy begins, the only forms which would maintain the pregnancy would be female forms or your Mew form. This also means that only one of you can be pregnant at a time. Unless you each play around enough...never mind. The deeper meaning is that if children is the aim, and you both want to carry, the only option is to add the male section to your bodies as they are, and when the pregnancies have begun, you could remove them, whatever you like. This will however require a very sober mind to do, and a very knowledgeable mind. Would you like me to do that for you first?"

Mai was laughing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes as Nai explained the...intricacies of creating a child between two female bodies which can transform. Juieh and Treiya were beat red from hearing the explanation of what they needed if they intended to have children. Since Juieh was the one to ask the question, perhaps she was putting the suggestion out for Treiya, but neither of them was willing to talk about it more.

"I feel it's safe to assume all of you would like as I called it the full dose then. If you all agree, then we'll get started and since Yuuka expressed interest first, she'll get her dose first. Then the decision is up to the two of you on who will go next. Order really doesn't matter if you're all decided on the full dose though. The real question is on whether you would like further knowledge given to you. As it stands, giving all the medical knowledge of Pokemon and humans to Yuuka will need me at full power, meaning only after a full rest and sleep will provide the needed extra energy to supply her the knowledge. For something like techniques, while those can be learned over time just fine, there's the option of me passing those on. It wouldn't require as much energy, and I could give that tomorrow evening after recharging from giving to Yuuka's medical knowledge. Techniques wouldn't include the knowledge on transformations. While either me or Mai could offer the knowledge for transformation or techniques, we'll leave it to you who you would rather learn from. The medical knowledge will have to come from me since that requires frequently observing the inner workings of another life, which I did. For millions of years. My energy when I'm close to any Pokemon or person will scan and observe the fine details so that I can have a deep understanding of what the other life is made of. Mai and the rest of you won't have the ability for your energy to expand. Not unless Mom gives you the energy instead of me, which is impossible because only myself and Arceus can visit her at this point, having moved to another level of existence."

Everyone went from understanding, to staring at Nai in disbelief.

"I thought the reason you never introduced me to Mom was something else, but she's no longer in our dimension?"

"It isn't that she's no longer in our dimension, it's that she never was in our dimension. Only her first few have the energy to perceive her, and since I was her first, I am the most compatible in being able to see her. Arceus was the third, the only other one aside myself who can still perceive her. The other...well, that one no longer exists. Basically, she took that one back to her energy. Proof would be, I can show you my current vision, because she's watching this region right now way up in the sky, but without seeing through my eyes, you would never be able to see her. She's another Mew, the original life. I share her appearance completely, so you'd basically see another me. Not really much point in showing you since you'd only see another me. I can't even really talk to her much any more. It's been since millions of years even before Mai was born since she was last able to hear my words, or at least respond to me."

"So...you used to be from another dimension then? The dimension she's in?"

"Right...at some point...she just stopped paying attention to me in favour of the rest of the world which was flourishing. A world growing from the addition of the others she created to protect and grow regions. Whenever it was she stopped paying attention to me, I was with the rest of her children. I don't even mind. It's so much more satisfying to be with the rest of the results of my siblings and my own creations than to rely on the company of only Mom. She was great company, but like with many families, eventually the children leave home on their journeys to start their own story. Unfortunately for some, leaving home is a tragic event in life which encourages growth in a different way and perhaps the realization of what they really want and need from life."

Nai's words echoed through the minds of everyone. Because she had two tragic leaving home stories. One where she no longer existed to her parent figure, and the other as returning home to a massacred family of many she loved. Not once but twice. It brought Yuuka and Juieh to tears, it had Mai deep in thought about how she had been for so long, and Treiya was on the verge of crying, trying to hold herself back from reaching out in aim to comfort Nai.

"Ah, stop with all the pouting faces and tears. I've experienced so much life and my mind is filled with so much now that I hardly feel tragic about any of my experiences. It's depressing in that sense, but I'm perfectly fine. I'm more concerned that I might have reopened the fresh wound for you, but those expressions and pitying expressions are only making me feel sour and guilty for bringing it up. The point is, that a tragic beginning can sometimes pull together a particularly strong trainer or life. I think I turned out alright. I know all of you will as well. It was iffy before Treiya made her change, but now I'm certain you'll all become great. You know, you're all a great family for this timeless sister of yours. Mai, Yuuka, Juieh and Treiya. You're all incredibly important to me now. I have someone I'm in love with, as you all know. Xharye would obviously count as another sibling in this crazy great family. Because she's the sister of the one I'm in love with. I love all of you. Family deserve love. Family are the people you love whether you're born into life with them, or you surround yourself with them. Blood isn't nearly as important as the bonds."

With those words, it was a different energy in the air, and different tears and expressions on everyone's faces. Mai joined in crying, a happy loving smile on her face which everyone wore. It confirmed to Nai that she indeed gathered a great family to continue life with.


	36. Chapter 36

She laid back on the grass in the meadow where they chose to do the transferring of energies. Nai was completely exhausted. Mai was also exhausted. It was before noon, but it were as if they expended every bit of energy they had. Only physically though, because the literal energy surrounding them was still overflowing. Their minds were running wild and their eyes followed as Yuuka Juieh and Treiya flew through the air above them. Greninja and Aegislash joined Nai and Mai laying on the grass. The whole crew of them were enjoying the nice mild weather as thin clouds rolled in over the region for the first time since Nai's return. It reminded Nai of the last time she saw such kind of clouds roll into the sky. Was it one of the weather trio from Unova's weather balance plan Rezekyu created, or was it Rayquaza making far patrols that caused that particular cloud pattern?

While Nai thought about it, Mai hummed the tune which reminded Nai which weather related Pokemon it signalled. Lugia was close. Lugia could be a sign of either fortunate weather, or a warning. Either way, Lugia was a powerful leader of the Johto region which was one of the last creation leaders the origin mother had created. Weather was effected by the presence. Nai's presence effected...mood. She brought out the emotions and thoughts of the people around her, and it had nothing to do with her energy. Humans and Pokemon became the very core of themselves when Nai was near, whether slowly, or immediately depending on how true to themselves they already were. It was part of what had the plan on exposing the disgusting people go so well, because they gave themselves away as soon as she was near enough it pushed them to their reveal. The range on it was something like...within the same region, others would become aware of their true mindset. Within about the range of a zone, others would have the urge to reveal themselves, and within breathing distance, others wouldn't be able to contain their true personalities.

Nai's presence also encouraged sunshine on a low level, which sometimes required a presence of say, Lugia, Kyogre or the weather trio from Unova. Otherwise a wide scale rain dance might end a drought encouraged by Nai's presence. Unless she transformed into one of those others. Inviting them over wasn't necessary.

Even with the camouflage coating Lugia, Nai stood up and brushed her fingers along Lugia's belly as he passed overhead.

 _Ah... That's a wonderful energy I haven't felt in ages. I hoped you would visit every so often Nai. Your visits have become very infrequent._

Lugia landed in the meadow gently and the newly transformed Mew reverted to their human forms as they looked up at Lugia in awe. While it was common for them to be around an ancient life at current, they hadn't met the well known legendary Pokemon yet.

 _Am I intruding on a family vacation? Everyone shares that they have the same energy as you. All children of yours? I thought you were less interested than the rest of us to fill the void mother never gave of family to us after she abandoned us in favour of watching. You have a whole pack now. It's rather impressive._

Nai shook her head and sighed.

"They are family, but family in the sense that they fill the void that mother never tried to fill. I love them all dearly, but they are their own. Unlike the rest of our siblings, I am not the controlling type. I just want to get along in a good way and keep peace. Unfortunately there's quite a bit of work for me to do in cleaning up after an absence of a few hundred years."

Lugia nodded his head and hummed.

 _Eldest sister...there's a lot of sinister intent hanging in the air of this land. Hateful and crude. I suppose this is the mess you speak of cleaning up?_

"Right. Some unfortunate humans with something we used to call **god complex** , a lot of them. You know how I handle things, so dealing with it will take a deal of patience and timing. And convincing."

Lugia laughed and nodded his head again in agreeing.

 _I'm very surprised little Mai hasn't already gone ahead and dealt with the situation her way like usual. Or has she finally come around to your peaceful ways?_

Nai sighed happily and shook her head.

"A mixed bag actually. This problem formed around her supporting this idea of returning the land to what it was before I went missing, but time and cause changed for them while they didn't for her, and her instinct to not let her energy understand those around her allowed foul minds to gather. Mai would handle the situation like normal if she could I bet, however that would only be if I weren't around to witness it this time, and also only if they hadn't become dangerous."

 _Dangerous?_

Nai sighed and got ready to explain. At least her energy was returning.

"These troublesome humans grouped together and infiltrated important human facilities and infrastructure, in other words, they managed to really make it a big mess. One of the products of this mess is a foul capture device which can even bind us. Even other humans, something humans have never done before. The goal of these devices is to gain absolute control over those they capture. In a sense, these neanderthals intend to make the world theirs. Greed infested disgusting...you know, like the other thing Deoxys brought with it. That stupid disease we worked for nearly a million years to destroy completely. It was difficult to fight that when everyone aside Arceus and myself were weak to the disease."

 _Ah, don't remind me. Those are the worst of my memories. At least the newer landing of Deoxys wasn't as much a pest. But really, your new issue is nearly as bad as that...would you like some help?_

Nai shook her head and sighed in disappointment.

"As much as I enjoy your company, you have your own region to take care of, and I'd rather not risk you being captured by the oafs here. I promise to visit once in a while when this is all dealt with. Now that I know how to deal with the issue, it won't take nearly as long as it did last time. Ah, before you go, I figure you must have come for a reason other than to visit after my absence."

 _Right...Well, not your issue although you're the only one capable of dealing with it peacefully. Ho-oh went and burned down another of their towers of worship while a family of those worshippers who expanded their family of those...Eevee as the humans call them were inside. Well, now those mutated like the ones in the past are causing havoc on the region. I was hoping you would be able to help capture them without harming them and calm them down. I'm sure you could convince their minds to peace like usual. Heck, their previous trainers unfortunately passed on, and I believe it would be better to relocate them. You help us with this, I offer that you have them and they add to your population. My days of adding to the population of this region are over. You know what I'm starting to think after all this time? We're really-_

"Stop right there Lugia. How many times have we all discussed this whenever we used to have gatherings? We are not old. We cannot be old. We are timeless. We just continue to exist. Can't die, can't really change. We can change our minds and our appearances a little sure...or myself and my ability can change appearance greatly, but age has no part of it. It's like watching a different area for a day. Or choosing a different style. One of these visits I'll definitely have enough energy to give you more fins and maybe change your silver skin to pink. You'll be fabulous."

Everyone laughed at how Nai said everything in the end. Not one of them, even Mai, could believe how easily Nai was talking to the famous legendary master of the ocean from Johto's whirl islands. Lugia was well known and renowned. Heck, regular Mew were renowned as mischievous and spritely beings who were too shy to approach humans directly. Nai Mai and their new family were all the exception, as Nai was the closest thing in the dimension to an original Mew, Mai came from Nai alone, and the rest started as humans.

Aegislash approached Lugia with interest and Lugia became curious.

 _Don't this species normally have a specific design for the face of their shield? I really enjoy the reflective surface, however I wonder if you were simply playing around again. You used to play around often with everyone's appearances. I felt sorry for Giratina receiving the pink bones, purple scales and white eyes, although your sense of taste is impeccable. I am quite fond of mother's design for me._

Eyes focused on Nai in shock and she smiled at the memory.

"I still can't believe Giratina complained so much about it. Even Darkrai preferred the pink and white differing colours. Giratina can definitely do for a little more brightening up once in a while. Just because she was tasked with guarding the inter dimension, doesn't mean she has to continue looking like an angry soul stealing beast. I know she's just brimming with love to give."

Lugia sighed.

 _Well, I've said what I came here to say. It's always so nice to catch up with you, but as you've mentioned, Johto needs my presence. I would suggest you take Kyogre's form for a while to at least provide some rain to this region. It seems a little dry compared to the last visit I made here._

"Right. As soon as we finish cleaning up the mess here, I'll go pick up your cast of nine on the run. Thanks for stopping by."

 _Actually, you say nine, but it's actually ten. As the humans call these Pokemon, they branch from Eevee, and that young one isn't included in the mix; instead, the ones called Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Sylveon, Wispeon, Raupheon, Toxeon, Shileon and Scaleon are those effected. The people thought different of the idea keeping the same which transformed due to Ho-oh's flames in the vicinity of a place of prayer. Unfortunately they didn't learn properly that Ho-oh isn't fond of places of prayer._

Nai sighed when she heard of the difference in issue. She only calmed Entei Raikou and Suicune in the past, which seemed to be enough, now the challenge of the others might stir Entei Raikou and Suicune back into the mood they had in the past. Now the types of psychic, dark, grass, ice, fairy, ghost, fighting, poison, steel and dragon were added to the fire electric and water type stress powered beings.

"I'll keep it in mind...perhaps your issue is more urgent to take care of..."

 _Oh, no it sounds your troubling matter is more urgent than mine. I can at least keep my calming rain over Johto for a time long enough to bide until your matter is dealt with. I would appreciate if you arrive before my rains flood Johto, but again, we've relied so much on you in the past._

Nai nodded her head, and Lugia flapped his wings, sending him into the air.

 _Ah, and my children would like to see you as well when you visit, so perhaps bring along your new family as well._

Nai smiled, and Lugia flew off coating himself in camouflage. Thankfully everyone was in their human forms, because when trainers from the normal type zone ran into the meadow, searching for Lugia who just took off, they didn't arrive to see a bunch of Mew playing around instead of the expected trainers.

"Did you just see...?!"

"Lugia? Yes, but don't you know that Lugia shows up around the world as a mirage to people who are strong of spirit? A well known legend in Johto."

Nai said it, and Treiya and Yuuka were able to confirm such legend as people whose origins stemmed from Johto.

"You aren't freaking out over seeing a legendary Pokemon?!"

"Well, I personally don't find it too special. As long as Giratina doesn't peek in from the shadow realm, anything's a blessing."

Nai's joke after telling the rest about what Giratina was really like.

"But isn't-"

"Just because we have Pokedex to record information on every Pokemon we come across, doesn't mean we should be bothering the important Pokemon who guard over a region. Can't you imagine the trouble of binding one of them to a Pokeball and then trouble stirring in the region they belong to when the region needs their help most? It would then be the responsibility of the trainer to set the Pokemon to do what they would naturally do."

They couldn't argue with Nai. Most trainers of course would want to capture a legendary Pokemon in a Pokeball, but it was stupidity and overconfidence which pushed trainers to be so reckless. Even meeting one of the legends as an average human should be considered an honour. Because without those who started everything, humans wouldn't even exist.

After that little event, Nai mentally reached out to the others.

 _We should finish up the challenges here so that we can press on to the other zones._

After she said it, everyone quickly grew determined. Nai shared her team with Mai, and she was easily able to get through all five of her battles without trouble at all. Treiya and Juieh finished their battles easily as well. Yuuka was able to do more than her amount in the safe area healing injuries after Nai taught her...and by evening, the group arrived in the flying type zone from the opposite branch exiting the normal zone. The other branch led to the grass type zone.


	37. Chapter 37

Xhasca already felt deprived of company from Nai. It was mostly because Nai had been able to spend most nights since arriving in the region together, but now it would be two nights in a row that Xhasca didn't have Nai with her. It was...lonely. Even with her Pokemon, her friends sharing the room like usual. Even with Xharye back in her room the next door over. Xhasca just couldn't find comfort without Nai being by her side.

Xhasca was depressed that her appetite completely disappeared. She didn't want to dismiss the kitchen set from her room for a few reasons, but the biggest was perhaps that she had wanted a reason for a long time to get one in her room in the first place. A relationship which would encourage her to explore her interest of cooking.

While her appetite was gone, Xhasca had another thing she could do with the set, and she had far too much energy to just fall asleep, so she got up from the bed and walked over to the kitchen set, pulling a grinder from the utilities and the best beans from the grass zone from a pouch she stored with the set when it arrived. Pouring just the right amount of beans into the grinder, she closed the lid on it and tied the bag, putting the bag away and turned on the grinder. The powder that resulted from the beans she put into a fine filter and she put the filter into the place of the hot drink dispenser. She could use the dispenser for teas as well, which she normally did, but coffee just seemed like the right idea with her mood. Thankfully, she had learned well enough how to use her abilities to soundproof the machines working, because otherwise she would be disturbing the sleep of her Pokemon.

She couldn't believe it sometimes. That she gained the abilities she had. That she received those abilities from Nai, one of the creators of the region she grew up on. That she was in a mutual loving relationship with Nai. So many things went amazing in so many ways ever since Nai returned to the region. Whether it was the experiences the two of them shared, or the overwhelming realization that her responsibility as champion seemed to have a finishing point some time in the near future.

Some things...became stressful to say the least. Between the push of the cult to become more a troublesome presence since Nai's arrival, their unfortunate technology and the troubles they would cause, the fall of the government who were tied to the cult...it all piled up Xhasca's responsibilities.

Xhasca just needed to think about the unfortunate stresses as something temporary though, and as she started pressing herself to thinking about how temporary the stress would be, the coffee finished brewing. Xhasca turned back to the brewing station and waited for the last drops of the brew to fall into her mug before pulling it out and taking a sip.

The taste was as comfortable as she remembered. Xhasca as well had to break down the substance to energy in order to consume the coffee, even if it was liquid. It was warm to her, not piping hot like she remembered fresh coffee. It was more her change in sensation because she was no longer human at base that softened heat and cold. She would be perfectly fine sleeping naked in snow or a volcano, although it would of course be uncomfortable to sleep on the hard ground inside a volcano. Her energy would automatically protect her from life threatening things...but not unfortunate things like those devices.

Xhasca found herself sour again about the circumstances the region was facing with the cult and those tied to it. If not for them, she wouldn't need to worry about her safety. Those devices could cause issue simply by capturing a few strong trainers and making them fight for the cult. The bigger issue, was that the devices were essentially master balls, as admitted by the production line in the city who helped produce them. The only way to be freed from those devices was if the captured had enough of their own mind when called out to destroy it. Or they had to be beyond the strength of a legendary Pokemon they said...but only Nai fits that description. Even those who gained power and abilities from Nai weren't protected. Certainly Xhasca and the others had the security of being able to protect themselves a little with the energy they were given, but should one of those capture devices make physical contact directly with their bodies, they would be trapped inside. Trapped until they were let out or saved. They would have to hope that those who would capture them would try and use them immediately and then take the chance to destroy the device...as long as they were mentally strong enough to resist the devices.

Xhasca understood it...but she didn't like to admit she would understand better if she went to a school besides a trainer school when she was younger. Trainer's schools barely help with learning what one would learn through battles, while a regular school would be able to help her organize her mind and tell her things that people from the cult and those tied to the cult would understand. Things that might steer their thoughts to resentment of trainers.

Xhasca sighed as she finished consuming the coffee. She had to admit, she agreed with the distress not being able to consume normally brought. Nai had been...well, her mind was completely Naeya then. She was completely overwhelmed by the distress that she didn't know herself anymore, being unable to eat, losing her appetite and barely able to appreciate taste the same way. Having to work with the energy to carefully break down the substance to energy the body would be able to consume. She washed the cup and hung it on the drying rack before taking a few steps back toward the bed. It was counter productive if she wanted to sleep when she consumed the coffee like that, but when she sat on the edge of the bed instead of laying back down, she faced toward the windows to enjoy the sight of the night sky. There was only one building in the city as tall as the apartment building, the Pokemon hospital. That building always had so many of its lights on. The exception were the rooms with ghost types who were terminally ill. Because ghost types needed darkness to help naturally heal illnesses.

Xhasca shook her head and stood back up. She was disappointed with herself for thinking about so much when she knew the best way to get herself ready for sleep. Plenty of fresh air, and physical exercise. While she had plenty of both throughout the day doing her job in calming the riots and battles, securing and binding the cultists and sympathizers in their own devices and locking them in a very safe place. Regardless, she decided she would go outside to get some rest and stretched herself a little before transforming to her form as Mew.

Xhasca had a difficult time getting used to returning to feeling comfortable as a human whenever she switched back and forth. The feeling of clothes were so uncomfortable and itchy, even when the clothes were loose like the night dresses.

After transforming to her form as Mew, Xhasca teleported to the other side of the window and realized she needed to stretch again. Different form, different flexibility. Xhasca was easily able to accept how comfortable she felt in her form as Mew. It was wonderful. The liberation of not needing clothes. The lack in needing long limbs and physical strength to move things around. The clarity of vision she used to need her contacts for. The tail felt more natural than not having one. Everything. Everything felt so much better than being human. Of course, she would need to be human or a capable species in order to have children with Nai someday, if that was an option Nai was even considering it for them. Xhasca felt flushed in embarrassment when she thought of Nai thinking of such a thing. It wasn't that it would be strange for Nai to be thinking of such a thing, it was more a concern that Nai might poke a little fun at Xhasca finally being shy about something.

Xhasca's mind wandered a little to the complication of body capability, but stopped herself before her thoughts became too wild and embarrassing.

She floated through the air, taking a few deep, relieving breaths of the crisp cool night air. The air in the city was a little less enjoyable so high up compared to over the zones because of factories, but it was better than the stuffy dust occupied rooms of the apartment building. The smoke and chemicals in the air from the factories made Xhasca wonder about other things, like what she might be able to come up with thinking alongside Nai and Mai as alternative ways of producing the same thing those factories created without sending the smoke and chemicals into the air, polluting the world ever so slowly. Making the air more difficult to breathe.

There were a few ways, she thought. They would require having Pokemon work on the process though instead of the machines and chemicals. With the issue that was currently going on, relying on Pokemon to do that kind of work seemed too counter productive. All the methods she could think up were unfortunately burdensome for other Pokemon.

With a sigh of defeat, she flew around a little more, stretching her body through the flight to make herself as ready for sleep as possible, but then she felt it barely on time. Fast and dangerously approaching, like a swarm, a cloud even, those cult use capture devices flew at her from the top of the apartment building. There, a group of over a dozen cultists and others who joined them stood with the launchers aimed at her. Xhasca was able to throw up her protective screen just on time to protect her from the first barrage. Unfortunately, that screen only lasted through the first barrage. She had to be more careful handling herself. Now that her body was ready to sleep, her energy wasn't responding as well as it otherwise would.

"Reload and fire them all at her again!"

Xhasca looked back toward her apartment room, where the light was on and it shouldn't. Xhasca's vision filled with red and her blood boiled, waking her completely. It wasn't just her blood that boiled, but her room was filled with red, her precious friends she grew up with...those monsters did to her team what they already tried doing with Xharye. At least they hadn't made it to Xharye's room. Xhasca flew out of the way of the next barrage toward Xharye's room, and the cultists tried breaking in just as she arrived. She threw an aura sphere at them and nearly screamed with her anger at them, which woke Xharye and her team up from their sleep.

 _We need to get out of here right away sis! Those jerks are after us again!_

That was all Xhasca needed to say before Xharye transformed and used her energy to call her changed up team to their balls, and flew out holding onto the belt containing her team.

 _Do you have your team with you?_

Xhasca paused for a second when they got out of Xharye's room, looking to her room. Xharye covered her mouth with her paws, tears sprang to her eyes.

 _I'm concerned that they might have captured Vell, but what's important if that's the case, is getting to Nai right now._

 _How are you dealing with this so well?!_

Xhasca was holding it back. With everything she had, she was holding back from crying and screaming more, fighting back against those foul humans. They had to think about avoiding being captured first and foremost though. Avoiding being captured when there was so many of them was the only answer. It meant they had to get away from them. Of course they could use their energy to fight back, but they didn't know how many more there were, and capturing them like normal would only be a senseless risk. It was better to go to someone who was safe.

 _I'm not handling this well...I'm just being as strong as I need to be to properly stand beside her._

The tears couldn't be contained no matter how strong Xhasca was trying to force herself to be. Xharye stopped pressuring immaturely to know why Xhasca wasn't acting more devastated, because she could tell that Xhasca wasn't nearly reaching where she wanted to be in strength. It was all because of the pain of what those monsters did to her team.

Those foul people thought nothing of killing. Those kind of people could be described as nothing but monsters or worse. Those kind of people were inexcusable irredeemable scum that needed to be punished or purged. Those were the thoughts Xharye had in her mind as the two of them flew toward the zones, and they started sniffing out for Nai's energy.

When they found Nai's energy above the flying type zone, they flew down and transformed back to their human forms as they landed by where Nai and the others had set camp. Nai was either a very light sleeper, or unlike the rest she didn't need sleep because of the differences she had, because she immediately acknowledged their arrival.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

She stood up and hugged Xhasca tight. Xhasca couldn't hold it in anymore. She cried, and even though she tried to keep her voice at least quiet enough she wouldn't wake anyone up, the cries turned into painful screams.

"The cult...they attacked us again. They attacked her room before mine this time and..."

Nai nodded her head and rubbed Xhasca's back and petted her head in a way of comforting her.

"Hey...it's alright Xhasca. You're alright. I'm here. We're all safe..."

Nai continued to say softly those reassuring words, but all the while, she surrounded the group in a soundproof and protective barrier since they were surrounded by the cult yet again.

"Full scale assault during the night...those people truly are scum."

Xharye was furious at them. Xhasca was finally calming down, but she was falling asleep while crying against Nai. Xharye was about to attack through the barrier, but Nai stopped her from releasing the energy, breaking it back down to just the energy around her.

"I can take care of them. Make sure Xhasca lies down in a proper posture or she'll be hurting when she wakes up."

Nai drew the protective barrier closer around them to bring the cultists closer. As soon as the entire group were within range of it, Nai brought down a heavy gravity field over the cultists. While the cultists were pinned against the ground, Nai grabbed hold of the capture devices that fell from their launchers and bags, putting all of the cultists in their own devices to ensure they wouldn't be able to fight back when they get back out.

"I assume more are going to be on the way shortly, so I'm sorry Xharye, but I'm going to need to put Xhasca on my back, and I'm teleporting all of us to the one place in the region they can't reach us. I'll also lock these ones away there."

With Nai's direction, Xhasca hung asleep on her back, Xharye and the rest made physical contact with Nai. As soon as they were all encompassed by the energy, Nai teleported them away. When everyone's senses returned, Nai was lying Xhasca transformed back to her Mew form on a nest where another was sleeping. They were in Vescalla's hibernation chamber. Xharye knew where they were because of her time there in the past as well when she and Xhasca had started using it as the prison for the cultists they captured. Nai had already placed the newly captured with the others in another part of the room.

 _Everyone needs to transform. As Mai knows, the presence of enough humans can wake Vescalla, so we all need to be in our forms as Mew or we risk waking her up. As far as the cultists, those devices at least provide a barrier to disguise them from her sense of whether or not they are near._

After Nai finished explaining, everyone rushed to transforming to their forms as Mew. Yuuka wasn't with them as she was in the normal zone still as part of her agreed work, which made Nai concerned.

 _I'll be right back. Everyone be careful not to wake Vescalla up._

When Nai disappeared to the rest, she could feel the distress of everyone wanting her to stay with them, but she had to do what she could if she could keep Yuuka safe. Treiya and Juieh were particularly worried knowing next to nothing about Vescalla. Xharye was concerned, but she trusted Nai to return safely.

What Nai teleported to however, was a gathering nearly as large as went after their entire group surrounding the space where the normal zone staff normally slept. Where Yuuka said she would. Nai reached out her sense of energy to hopefully find she wasn't in one of the devices on the ground in the middle of the group as they approached the people they captured.

Nai was nearly pushed to fury when she could feel Yuuka's energy in one of the devices. She threw an energy to those captured in the devices, grabbed all of them up and moved them behind her while throwing up a barrier to stop from the cultist group hitting her with any of the devices. As soon as the people captured in devices were safe from the risk of being hit by her energy, Nai broke her pattern of using a gravity technique to slam them to the ground. Instead, she sent extrasensory psychic energy which sent them confused tumbling against each other.

Nai started setting free the people who were captured from the devices, but Yuuka wasn't among those she freed. She could feel Yuuka's energy in a device with one of those Nai used the extrasensory energy. Unfortunately, the energy was being amplified inside of Yuuka's prison. Nai grabbed the remaining devices the cultists held onto and released the people from the devices.

Those freed were just as violent toward Nai as the cultists when they were set free from the extrasensory. The extrasensory was far too strong, it made everyone who felt it extremely violent toward her.

With a sigh, Nai changed the energy around her to the dark void ability specially known to Darkrai to put those nearby to sleep. Since Darkrai was better known by humans as essentially a sandman, the Pokemon which resided over dreams and provoked nightmares, it was often thought that Darkrai was a menacing Pokemon, but that was a misunderstanding.

The dark void ability put everyone around Nai to sleep. Thankfully, Nai managed to remember every person by their energy if they were friendly or cultist if afflicted by the extrasensory. Cultists were all bound in their capture devices, while those friendly afflicted by the extrasensory were all treated, and everyone who was intended to be captured and weren't afflicted were moved about the sleeping area to make it seem as if they all sleep walked and slept wildly instead of guessing at wherever they slept before.

Unfortunately...treatment didn't go so well. Nai couldn't figure out why, but she wasn't able to reverse the confusion effect. This was something that even afflicted Yuuka, so she tried what she could, but she couldn't reverse what she did with the extrasensory energy. The kind of effect, while they were asleep, Nai could easily go into their dreams and check the contents if they were confused, but the energy itself wasn't reversing. It were as if...she put too much energy into the technique.

That kind of idea terrified her. If Nai's energy was indeed stronger than she knew it to be for so long, then she was using far more for things such as providing the changed states to Xhasca and the others. With the possibility of her extended power revealed, Nai bound the rest and moved them to the meadow where Nai and the others gathered for their receiving of blessings in the normal type zone.

After binding them there, Nai opened with her telepathy energy communications with the others in Vescalla's nest.

 _I have made a mistake and need to rest before I can undo what I did, so please rest well. I should be back before the morning. Take care of yourselves and remember to be careful of waking Vescalla. Tomorrow I'll have the energy to retrieve Vell from the cult and bind both her and Vescalla together so to eliminate their threat of being used against us. I am not pushing myself, but finally realizing the extent of my abilities. Good night._


	38. Chapter 38

Mai snuggled against Vescalla's snout, careful not to wake her up. Vescalla was her creation, but it was the only creation she ever made. She was otherwise incapable of producing life. Most of that kind of job was Nai. Mai just helped her how she could.

For a long time they were together, Mai was simple. She could remember the long years it took for her to grow up as much as human children took in months. She took nearly a million years just to properly communicate with Nai, just stuck around her in her original form, unable to transform, unable to do much else. Just a baby following the leader.

It took millions of years to become as much as she had between that of her mind and that of her abilities eventually. When she thought about her younger days, she was able to understand what feeling she had then which pushed her to do the stupid things she did. Whenever she intentionally made mistakes with things for attention, whenever she restored Nai's memories, every time she reached out in a way for her to stay close with Nai, is was always Mai's instinct as a child to have the attention of their parent in a loving way.

Until the most recent absence of Nai from her life, Nai never went missing for more than a few days, maybe a week at most. Mai...was selfish. She was still, after millions of years the spoiled child of her mother. The thing she had to consider now, was that Mai finally had siblings, a young family to share Nai with. She realized when her inner workings were found out, that maybe it was unfortunate that Nai was expanding the family so easily. What if Mai couldn't help herself anymore? What if...what if she would do something stupid again, maybe hurt her new family Nai brought together?

Maybe...maybe like she heard about happening with Treiya's mind being influenced by her subconscious use of an amnesia like technique, she might be able to change herself. She might...be able to change how she had grown to be. She might be able to change her opinion of humans by forcibly reworking her past through her mind.

Vescalla stirred a little, and Mai could feel Vescalla's energy supporting Mai's thoughts. She...wanted to change. She was afraid. She was afraid for the same reason she was afraid of using her energy on other people's minds. The only purpose which was worth the risk, was fixing Nai's memories.

She never thought about...using her energy on herself. Not in all of her years. Perhaps some of the times Nai lost her memory were intentional in the past... Mai didn't want to think of it, but her mind continued to wander around the aspect of manipulating her own mind to fit in with the new crowd around her. The most troubling thing for herself, was the way she normally acted toward others.

The others were also stirring in their sleep. Mai was nervous that someone might try to stop her from using the technique on herself. They seemed to be the types that they would be concerned and more inclined to wait for Nai's opinion on something after her taking charge so much.

Mai couldn't sleep for another reason. Nai needed to conserve her energy and use it again? For another purpose? Just what kind of purpose would require a lot of energy? What kind of mistake did she make?

Being too bothered by it to let it slide, she tried to connect through telepathy to Nai, but there was no response. It was most likely the weaker state of her own energy, but Mai was concerned. She wanted to be there for Nai, regardless of what Nai told her and the others to do.

Mai could tell that Treiya was the same. Determined to become able enough to handle her life on her own without needing to depend on Nai all of the time. Mai could understand with the kind of love and care she had for Juieh. Mai felt there was a lot that she shared with the people Nai surrounded herself with. While they were all mentally female, all currently biologically female, they all had mental and emotional strength that they wouldn't have had without living life with Nai.

She couldn't contain her curiosity, so Mai charged herself with as much teleporting energy as she could, and she warped herself above ground, where she had warped herself during her escape before. Mai became uneasy as soon as she was out of the safe zone, as if she were being watched. She looked down and around herself, only to see that the cult had grouped up on the battle ground that seemed to have become important. They hadn't noticed her yet, but she didn't intend to take a risk and fight them, so she camouflaged herself and started flying away, but as soon as her camouflage finished activating, shouting erupted from below.

"That energy signal showed up above! Everyone, spread your aim and fire into the sky, one of you should get her!"

That same foul woman Mai had come to loathe in a way she hadn't expected to loathe anyone. She didn't particularly like humans for a long time, but the coming of that human woman was nauseating to say the least.

Instead of blocking the devices fired in the air, it was faster to avoid them with her body. She manoeuvred through the sky to the point that she felt she was swimming, and it was enjoyable to practice her flying. She hadn't done much flying around until her recent leave from the underground of the region.

Thankfully, the first barrage of the devices all missed, proving that she didn't need much practice. Instead of humouring the idea of continuing to avoid them, she flew away and aimed herself at the other zones so she could seek out Nai's energy again like before. It didn't take long, though she did cross great distance to find her. When Mai was within sight of the meadow where Nai and many others were, she noticed something incredibly wrong. Nai was asleep, and those who were with her were attacking her. They were hitting her and scratching her with their finger nails and they were being absolutely brutal toward her. Even...the human Mai recognized as one who belonged to their new family. Nai was asleep...did they knock her unconscious? Mai had to save her...but she didn't have any confidence in her ability to judge which technique would work, what would help and if she could handle so many. Nearly two dozen humans who seemed to be enraged by some...malevolent energy.

First thing first, Mai thought of using the aromatherapy ability to wake Nai up, maybe try and snap the humans out of their stupor. Unfortunately, the effect only woke Nai up. To which she transformed to her Mew form. Yuuka saw it and she copied the transformation, following up with her attacking. Blasts of energy fired indiscriminately toward Nai and Mai when Nai managed to get away and join up with Mai. Nai threw up a mirror coat screen to absorb the energy.

 _She's exhausting her energy Nai...I've never seen either of us get so low on energy. Do you know what happens...when it goes so low?_

Nai didn't answer, only wore a mixture of anger and sadness in her expression.

Nai pulled a little energy from Mai, and she used a skill Mai didn't recognize. This skill was...essentially to the same effect of aromatherapy, but it was a different kind of energy, and much stronger. The rest of the humans on the ground immediately snapped out of their stupor, and in their exhaustion they fell asleep. On the other hand, Yuuka was still attacking.

 _Still not enough?! I don't even know...how to reverse it..._

Mai was curious and heavily concerned.

 _What's going on sister Nai?!_

Nai sighed and continued to keep her attention on defending. Yuuka was still relentlessly attacking them.

 _I'll show you later what happens when one runs out of energy._

Nai used healing pulse energy on Yuuka, to which she only attacked even more fierce after slowing down a little with her energy running near exhaustion.

 _Damn it!_

Nai was far more frustrated than Mai ever saw her before. Was it that after so many times remembering herself, she was finally at a point her personality was changing a little? Or was it simply being more concerned and protective than Mai was used to seeing?

Nai used another unfamiliar energy to Mai, which thankfully managed to stop Yuuka entirely. Thankfully not a violent or harmful energy, but something that rendered her in a state similar to sleep. She was made comatose.

 _In short, a complete loss of energy will produce a state between life an death. The body cannot wake, and the mind cannot wake the body. Sometimes this means that the mind is experiencing more than the body is. This can lead to the mind eventually dying before the body. Even...even we can experience this. The only cure is an ability shared by myself, mother and Celebi. Right now, Yuuka is experiencing the state because only this state would stop her from the misuse of attacks. The issue here, is that in her current state, there was a likelihood that she would end up in the other state. There's a possibility of dying from using every bit of energy. For myself in particular, my energy will regenerate and I'd be able to recover at any time even if put in a comatose or lethal state. Unfortunately, that ability is limited to myself and mother alone. I will need to be very well rested before I would be able to restore Yuuka. Basically...the skill to cure the comatose state, is to temporarily render myself comatose._

Hearing it, Mai stared in horror as her mind was filled with the words Nai said. Mai...could have done that to herself. She nearly did when she thought of using the energy to change her mind and personality. She trembled at the thought and tears welled in her eyes.

 _It'll be fine. Unfortunately for Yuuka, I can't afford doing this for her before we've dealt with the bigger problem we have. She'll have to remain comatose for a time. It's regrettable, but it's the only solution right now._

Mai was still crying. She was devastated at what was happening.

 _How did this happen anyway?_

Nai sighed again and floated to the ground to sit and rest a moment.

 _Well, instead of doing the usual move I do in order to capture the cult, I used a confusing energy in order to turn them against each other when I moved those who were in the open in the devices. Well, unfortunately, all of these people were contained in devices which were already picked up by the cultists. This means Yuuka was included in those who were effected by the confusion. I also only finally realized how much stronger my energy is than it used to be._

Mai sighed in relief at one thing Nai mentioned. Her knowing her energy had expanded. That kind of thing was incredibly important. However, it would have been better known before the mistake which became incredibly unfortunate for Yuuka. It already felt to Mai that she had lost one of her new family members. It was only a temporary thing...or was it? What if Nai couldn't reverse the confusion effect? It would essentially have erased Yuuka's personality from her.

 _Well, let's get the rest of them back to their resting area. After that, I'll bring Yuuka back to Vescalla's chamber._

After a moment, Nai hesitated and turned to Mai.

 _How difficult would you say the situation is below ground?_

Nai was asking about something Mai was surprised about since Nai hadn't directly visited since arriving back in the region. It was also surprising since Nai knew the cult were using the underground as their base of operation...but then, Mai had to admit that she didn't know herself how many there were. There were hundreds in devices carefully laid out in Vescalla's chamber. There were likely many more who were above ground. There were even many in devices in the area she noticed as her mind continued on the subject.

 _I'm not sure how many there are. I'm...not sure how I can help at all..._

Mai felt...useless. Nai was genuinely trying her best to set right the current situation. Mai could feel the frustration and anger Nai was experiencing with the current situation, but then it calmed when she heard Mai's voice.

 _I...need what I hid there. I'm going back because what helps me recover energy fastest is there. Go back to the others please and make sure Vescalla doesn't wake up, or better, please try and get better control of Vescalla. I'll clear the underground so that we no longer have to worry about them gathering there. My hidden secret there will lock off the underground from all human interference. Be careful and don't let anyone leave the chamber until I return to you._

Mai became frustrated with Nai for a better reason than she ever had before.

 _Nai...it's finally my time to scold you for once. You have so many strong people around you who are ready and willing to help. You have so many reasons to rely on the people around you, but you're still acting like always and trying to do everything on your own. Stop being so much of a hero and realize you're risking yourself way too much right now. Rest up with us, and we'll all work together to clear the underground area tomorrow. Don't push yourself any more, because we all depend on you. Pushing yourself too much is only careless, not helpful. If you put yourself in that state you mentioned when surrounded by the cult, they could put you in one of those devices and make you our enemy. That could put us all in danger._

Nai was shocked, but she smiled fondly when she took a moment to think about it.

 _You've grown up so much Mai. Did those few hundred years do something needed for your mind, or is it your new friends? I always told you friends were wonderful. I do agree though. I was too hot headed and ready to take too big a risk. Thank you. Let's go back to them then._

Mai smiled when she heard those words from Nai. They assured her...that she was growing. Mai was finally...dispelling her attitude, but without risking herself. The answer to herself was the answer to Nai. Not take too big a risk, and depend on those who depend on her. Mai was growing, because she was becoming close and dependant on more people than Nai. She had to be more considerate of her own welfare for their sake as well.

Surely...if they enjoy her as she is, then there's no point in harming her mind as it is. She finally realized...what it meant to have friends like Nai had always told Mai to make. It didn't mean to literally create other life, it meant to find someone important enough and trustworthy enough to feel as trustworthy as Nai to her. It meant finding another human or Pokemon she could understand and freely communicate with who would do for her what she would do for them. People who were ready to reciprocate what she would offer. Those kind of humans and Pokemon to have around, instead of the purely dependants on her as a leader in the past. When she thought of it, she realized that her way of leading in the past was getting in the way of how Nai was leading, and Nai led the way that had everyone happy and working together the best in the past. For a long time after they finally finished the building of their region, Nai was successfully befriending the people and Pokemon and led them and guided them through constructing other things which made it easier for the humans and Pokemon to live together in the region, together. Mai's influence...she dreaded remembering how she was, because she only incited uprisings of those who weren't able to find themselves involved. She realized how much she only attracted bad attitudes in comparison to Nai, who gathered and attracted the positive, passionate and compassionate who would go out of their way to expand the good moods. To expand the helpful and positive environment instead of making those not involved further displeased.

Realizing what she used to be like, she steeled herself and wore a confident expression before smiling at Nai to ready herself for the teleport back to Vescalla's den. When she felt the energy begin to form, Mai followed Nai's teleport just in case Nai didn't follow through with the suggestion from Mai. To her dismay, Mai found they teleported to a place Mai didn't know. The place they were in was a sealed sphere-like room they were in, with something floating in the centre. That thing in the centre...felt like another Nai.

 _You followed my teleport this time instead of going back to Vescalla's chamber...might as well explain this then._

Nai sighed and leaned back as she rested on the floor of the place.

 _This is where I stored energy I didn't use from everyday for a very long time. Even further below our home castle underground. This energy is a solidification of equal to nearly a trillion times more than I can use at one time. Resting here for a single hour will fully replenish my energy. For you or others, a minute could be lethal, because I don't have an upward limit. Even Arceus can't handle long in my energy when it's this concentrated. With all of this energy, I could practically rebuild the entire region in the blink of an eye, but wouldn't a better use be something like create another region, another place for people and Pokemon to come together and become friends? I intended to do something like that for a long time, but we were having so much fun, I just figured storing the energy would eventually find its use somehow else. Such as eliminating the current issue on our home. This, is my reassurance. If I push myself to a point that I'll put myself comatose, this core of my energy will teleport me to it regardless, and only myself and now you know of this place. Oh, and you were only able to teleport here because you followed my energy. Otherwise, it's impossible to get in. I would be perfectly safe and fully revitalized in a few hours. There's literally no worry if I tap into this, but it feels like cheating, don't you think?_

Mai continued to blink and stare in surprise. The room they were in was literally a soft stone sphere which was comfortable to the touch, and the core of Nai's stored energy in the centre was deceivingly small for the amount of energy it held. Just being near it was extremely painful for Mai, but she held herself. The core was in the shape of an orb, like a glowing orb of ice. Or like a manifestation of Nai's eyes, the ice blue eyes which glowed and pierced through everything they saw. Which understood everything near them.

It was...beautiful...but also the most dangerous thing Mai could imagine existing in the world. Nai was already the strongest life she knew, but knowing this existed felt like a literal weapon. Something that wasn't meant for the things Nai said, but for something completely different. Something malevolent. It was something that literally felt ready to crush her at any moment. Nai was completely comfortable with it, but it was because the energy they were with was a massively concentrated amount of her own energy. Of course it wouldn't harm the source. Plus she likely gave it properties other than teleporting her when she was in a critical condition.

Mai couldn't handle it any longer, opening her energy to connect with the cavern where Vescalla and the others were. When she was out of the reach of that intense energy, she could feel a major change in her energy. It expanded...a lot. Not nearly so much to even come close to reaching Nai, especially since it was likely going to expand her energy yet again.

Vescalla stared with wide awake open eyes when Mai noticed that there was breath landing on her fur. Mai was concerned. She was worried. Would she be able to control...would she be able to guide Vescalla in a way that she wouldn't be violent like she originally created her to be?

With her energy finally expanded, Mai decided to try. She reached with the energy she never used to communicate directly with Vescalla's mind, only to find that Vescalla was already of the same understandings and intents of Mai. They would work together with the others to free the region from the malevolence of the cult.

One final thought entered Mai's mind before the drastic change in comfort made her too exhausted to stay awake. Perhaps what kept Nai's energy from expanding was using it, storing it away in that orb. The time she was away from it gave her energy free reign of expanding and becoming much more powerful. Mai also noticed that Yuuka's figure which only seemed to sleep was already in the cavern with them, despite Nai not teleporting her there.

Mai was continuing to be surprised at the things she didn't know about Nai. For the two of them knowing each other more than any other two lives, Mai felt it was one sided, that she didn't really know much at all about Nai. Nai was covered in so much mystery now, it was devastating.

When her exhaustion caught up to her and she fell asleep on Vescalla's front paws, Mai had a feeling the scolding she gave Nai was wasted. That Nai definitely wouldn't heed the warning. It worried her, but it also confirmed in her that there was nothing she would be able to do either way. Nai was...not really human or Pokemon at all. She was something much more powerful. She was truly...the same as her mother, set loose on the world.


End file.
